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The two sides recently agreed to restart negotiations for the agreement, officially known as the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA), which aims to increase two-way trade to $50 billion by 2030. “Had a fruitful discussion with Minister Sidhu to further advance trade and commercial engagement with Canada. We had preliminary scoping and extensive discussions on the overall vision, framework, broad objectives and modalities as part of preparations for the launch of the CEPA negotiations,” Goyal said in a social media post. Post.
He also agreed to lead a high-level trade and investment delegation to Canada next year.
In 2023, Canada halted negotiations for a deal with India after bilateral relations hit rock bottom following then-Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s allegations of possible Indian links in the murder of Hardeep Singh Nijjar.
CEPA is a type of free trade agreement in which two countries either significantly reduce or eliminate customs duties on most goods traded between them. They ease norms for movement of skilled professionals and attract investment.
Before this, they had held more than half a dozen rounds of talks on the proposed agreement.
India’s exports to Canada to increase by 9.8% to $4.22 billion in 2024-25 from $3.84 billion in 2023-24.
However, imports declined by 2.33% to $4.44 billion in the last fiscal year from $4.55 billion in 2023-24.
Relations between the two countries got a new lease of life after Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s talks with his Canadian counterpart Mark Carney on the sidelines of the G7 summit in Kananaskis, Canada in June.
Bilateral trade in goods and services between India and Canada to reach $18.38 billion in 2023.
There are approximately 2.9 million Indian expatriates and over 4,27,000 Indian students in Canada.