Canada trade minister to visit India to deepen economic ties | World News

Toronto: Canada’s Minister of International Trade Maninder Sidhu will make his third visit to India within three months just before the next round of negotiations towards a comprehensive economic partnership agreement or CEPA are set to commence.

Canada's Minister for International Trade Maninder Sidhu addresses the gathering during a reception for the Team Canada trade mission to India, in Mumbai, on October 14. (PTI)Sidhu is expected to arrive in Hyderabad on Thursday and will participate in the CII Partnership Summit 2026 in Visakhapatnam which is being chaired by Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal. The host chair for the summit is Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu.

“Minister Sidhu is in India this week to deepen Canada-India trade and investment ties and continue working to conclude an ambitious CEPA,” his department stated in a post on X on Tuesday.

Sidhu visited India in October, heading a Team Canada Trade Mission to India. He also travelled to Mumbai in October this year. On each occasion, he held a bilateral meeting with Goyal focused on taking the CEPA negotiations forward.

Sidhu made his maiden visit to India in November last year, when he also participated in the CII Partnership Summit.

Those negotiations are in their final stage, after the completion of five rounds. Negotiators are expected to meet in Ottawa next week with the possibility of another meeting before the end of November if certain matters remain outstanding.

That the two countries will commence negotiations towards a free trade deal was announced when their respective Prime Ministers, Narendra Modi and Mark Carney, met on the sidelines of the G20 Leaders’ Summit in Johannesburg a year back. They were formally launched when Carney visited New Delhi and held a bilateral meeting with Modi this March. Announcing the successful completion of negotiations is expected to be the highlight of Modi’s scheduled visit to Canada in December.

Both sets of negotiators are working towards that deadline, which was reiterated by Carney when he met Goyal in May this year.

Concluding the deal with India is a priority for Ottawa as it seeks to diversify away from its reliance on the United States.

Anirudh Bhattacharya is a Toronto-based commentator on North American issues, and an author. He has also worked as a journalist in New Delhi and New York spanning print, television and digital media. He tweets as @anirudhb.Read More