Canada trade minister to lead 300-member mission to India amid CEPA talks

Canada's Trade Minister Maninder Sidhu said on Friday that he will travel to India later this month with a nearly 300-member business delegation to explore opportunities across sectors, as the two countries prepare for the next round of talks on their proposed Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA).

Sidhu, who met Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal in Milwaukee on Thursday, said India and Canada would begin another round of negotiations with officials from New Delhi as part of efforts to conclude the trade pact by the end of the year. Goyal also said the two sides had reviewed the ongoing negotiations and reaffirmed their commitment to speed up the process.

India and Canada announced a bilateral trade deal in March this year with the aim of expanding trade between the two countries to USD 70 billion by 2030. In a post on X, Sidhu said, "After wrapping up the fourth round of negotiations in Mumbai, I met again with Minister Piyush Goyal at the G20 ahead of the next round beginning October 5 to advance negotiations to conclude towards a deal before the end of this year." The next round of negotiations on the CEPA is scheduled to begin in Ottawa.

Sidhu said there was room to deepen commercial ties between the two countries. "With more than Canadian dollars 30 billion in two-way trade today and a shared goal of reaching Canadian dollars 70 billion by 2030, there is significant room to grow the trade and investment relationship between our two countries," he said.

He also said he would lead a Team Canada Trade Mission to India this month. "That's why this month I am leading a Team Canada Trade Mission to India, bringing close to 300 Canadian delegates from businesses across key sectors to make connections, find new customers and pursue opportunities in one of the world's fastest-growing markets," Sidhu said. He added that from critical minerals and energy to agriculture, technology and other sectors where Canada is a global leader, the effort was aimed at helping Canadian companies build partnerships and grow in India.

In a separate post on X, Goyal said he had a "productive meeting" with Sidhu and reviewed the ongoing negotiations for the India-Canada CEPA. He said the agreement was launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney in March to take bilateral trade to USD 50 billion by 2030. "Building on our recent meeting in Mumbai, we reaffirmed our commitment to expediting negotiations and working towards an early conclusion of the agreement," Goyal said. The latest exchanges underline both sides' push to advance the CEPA talks and expand trade and investment ties.