Trade in focus, India, Canada push to up ties

Signalling further moves to improve ties between New Delhi and Ottawa, Canada’s Foreign Minister Anita Anand underlined attempts to build “renewed partnerships” with large economies like India and China, while External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said the two sides are preparing to take their relationship “to a higher level”.

This comes ahead of a proposed visit by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Canada in December this year, when the two sides are aiming to finalise and sign the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA).

Jaishankar met Anand on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) on Saturday. “Always a pleasure to meet FM @AnitaAnandMP of Canada… A productive discussion as we prepare to take the relationship to a higher level,” he said in a post on X, as he shared a short video clip of their meeting.

Meanwhile, in her address at the high-level UNGA General Debate on Saturday, Anand said that in the economic realm, Canada is focused on what it can control: diversifying its trade and catalysing a trillion dollars of investment in the country over the next five years.

She said for this, Ottawa is exploring new opportunities with partners in the Indo-Pacific, the Gulf region and Latin America. “This includes building renewed partnerships with large economies like India and China,” she said.

Anand also highlighted efforts with India and other nations to strengthen multilateralism and boost UN reforms. Earlier this week, India co-sponsored an inaugural multilateralism summit at the UN headquarters, with Australia, Barbados, Brazil, Canada and Kenya.

While New Delhi and Ottawa have hit a major reset in ties ever since Canadian Prime Minister Mike Carney took over in March 2025, both sides are also aiming at strategic autonomy and trade diversification in the wake of trade and tariff pressures from Washington.

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Earlier this week, Carney said at the UN that Modi was expected to visit Canada around December this year. “We are making good progress in our trade negotiations with India. It is an exceptionally important relationship on many levels, people-to-people levels, security levels, and also trade and economic,” he said at a press conference Tuesday on the sidelines of the UNGA.

India and Canada had committed at the G20 last year to “look to conclude negotiations by the G20 this year”, he said, while responding to questions on when Modi would visit Canada and how close Ottawa was to concluding a free trade agreement with India.

Ties between the two countries had nosedived in 2023, during the tenure of former prime minister Justin Trudeau, after he said that Canadian security agencies were pursuing allegations of a potential link between agents of the Indian government and the killing of Canadian citizen Hardeep Singh Nijjar in British Columbia — a claim rejected by India.

The diplomatic row led to reciprocal expulsions of diplomats and a reduction in diplomatic personnel.

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In July this year, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police — as part of a larger investigation into transnational organised crime — said it had found no evidence linking Indian government officials to Nijjar’s killing.

In June last year, Carney and Modi agreed to take calibrated steps to restore stability, followed by the return of high commissioners and a series of high-level engagements.

Modi visited Canada for the G7 Summit last year. If he travels to Canada in December, it will be his first bilateral visit to the country after 2015.

Carney made a bilateral visit to India from February 27 to March 2 this year — the first visit by a Canadian Prime Minister to the country since 2018.

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The two sides have been in touch at various levels — including several rounds of discussions and meetings between Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal and Canadian Minister of International Trade Maninder Sidhu. Goyal said earlier that the two sides have agreed to fast-track negotiations for a comprehensive economic partnership, with the next round of talks scheduled to begin on October 5.

The agreement is engineered to expand bilateral trade to $50 billion by 2030. Additionally, Canadian pension funds remain among the largest global institutional investors in Indian infrastructure, transport networks and commercial real estate.

To counter global supply chain dependencies and secure resources for next-generation technology, both countries launched a new bilateral strategy based on four core pillars: nuclear energy, critical minerals, clean energy and allied sectors.

Anand has also held several meetings with Jaishankar since becoming Canada’s foreign minister in 2025. —With PTI inputs