Carney, Goyal hold talks in Ottawa for ‘game-changer’ FTA as India, Canada revive trade ties

In a push to breathe fresh life into bilateral ties, India’s Union Minister of Commerce and Industry, Piyush Goyal, arrived in Canada on Monday for a high-stakes three-day visit, with a delegation of over 110 Indian business leaders. 

Goyal opened his visit in Ottawa with an official bilateral meeting with Canada’s Prime Minister Mark Carney, and Minister of International Trade, Maninder Sidhu. The primary objective on the table was to fast-track the long-awaited Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (Cepa) and expand bilateral commerce.

Setting an ambitious road to 2030

During a joint media address following their meeting, Goyal said that leadership on both sides has issued an ambitious mandate to their negotiating teams.

"Our prime ministers have tasked us not only with completing the free trade agreement with a comprehensive outlook before the end of this year or earlier, but tripling our trade from a current level to US$ 50 billion by 2030," Goyal stated.

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The target marks a steep escalation from current figures. For the 2025–26 fiscal year, bilateral trade between the two nations hovered around US$ 8 billion (with Indian exports at US$ 4.67 billion and imports at US$ 3.28 billion).

The deliberate push for a deal follows a prolonged freeze. Trade talks were abruptly paused by Canada in late 2023 due to severe diplomatic tensions. However, an economic reconciliation began to take root following a bilateral meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Canadian leadership at the G7 Summit in Kananaskis, setting up the formal launch of these renewed Cepa negotiations.

Critical minerals, energy, and the 'Maple 8'

The heavy-hitting corporate delegation accompanying Goyal spans sectors including aerospace, artificial intelligence, pharmaceuticals, agriculture, and metals.

A central pillar of the discussions is supply chain resilience and resource security. Driven by rapidly expanding domestic requirements, India is positioning Canada as a foundational pillar for its clean energy transition.

Canadian Minister Maninder Sidhu emphasised that the partnership fits squarely into Ottawa's broader strategy to look beyond its southern neighbour.

"We made a promise to Canadians that we diversify our trading partners and we'd unlock roughly $300 billion of additional non-US exports, and this is what we're focused on in this visit," Sidhu noted.

The ministers confirmed that Chief Trade Negotiators have already made substantial progress through two rounds of preliminary talks. Goyal and Sidhu laid out the foundational groundwork for a third round of negotiations, which Canada will host shortly.

Over the remainder of his trip, Minister Goyal is scheduled to hold high-level strategic talks with Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand, meet with top Canadian tech startups, and hold an official audience with Prime Minister Mark Carney to solidify the broader geopolitical and macroeconomic alignment between New Delhi and Ottawa.