India, Canada likely to sign deal to deepen trade, services

New Delhi: In a move to increase trade and expand investment in both countries, India and Canada are all set to seal an initial deal this year, while setting out a mechanism to deal with disputes at the same time. Besides, both the countries have also agreed to increase discussions on movement of skilled professionals and students as they are contributing immensely in strengthening the economic ties between the two countries, according to a statement issued on Wednesday.

Last year, the two countries resumed negotiations on a comprehensive economic partnership agreement or CEPA, but now they said that they would like to finalise a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on their cooperation this year. As per top government sources, there are over 600 Canadian companies and organisations who are operating in India. “The proposed comprehensive trade deal could boost an estimated bilateral trade by up to $6.5 billion,” the sources said.

Commerce and industry minister Piyush Goyal met his Canadian counterpart, Mary Ng, in Ottawa on Monday, along with several business leaders there. “The early progress trade agreement or EPTA would cover, among others, high-level commitments in goods, services, investment, rules of origin, sanitary and phytosanitary measures, technical barriers to trade, and dispute settlement,” they said in a statement.

In pursuit of the CEPA goal, talks towards an EPTA as a transitional step towards the CEPA have been underway and several rounds of discussions have already taken place. “The ministers noted the significant movement of professionals and skilled workers, students, and business travellers between the two countries, and its immense contribution to enhancing the bilateral economic partnership,” the statement said.

The ministers agreed on the importance of government-to-government coordination to promote critical mineral supply chain resiliency.

There is a huge demand for lithium, titanium, vanadium, cobalt, nickel, and graphite in India it is targeting to up the production of renewable energy by 2030. Further, they also discussed ways to increase cooperation in agricultural goods, chemicals, green technologies, infrastructure, automotive, clean energy, and others.