Canada minister to lead 300-member business delegation to India as CEPA talks resume

Canada’s Trade Minister Maninder Sidhu on Friday said he was heading to India later this month with a 300 strong business delegation to explore opportunities across sectors in the world’s fastest-growing markets.

Sidhu, who met Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal in Milwaukee on Thursday, said India and Canada will start another round of talks with negotiators from New Delhi as part of efforts to conclude the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement by the end of the year.

India and Canada announced a bilateral trade deal in March this year with an aim to expand the bilateral trade between the two countries to USD 70 billion by 2030.

“After wrapping up the fourth round of negotiations in Mumbai, I met again with Minister Piyush Goyal at the G20 ahead of the next round beginning October 5 to advance negotiations to conclude towards a deal before the end of this year,” Sidhu said in a post on X.

The next round of negotiations on the CEPA are scheduled to start in Ottawa.

“With more than Canadian dollars 30 billion in two-way trade today and a shared goal of reaching Canadian dollars 70 billion by 2030, there is significant room to grow the trade and investment relationship between our two countries,” Sidhu said.

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The Canadian minister said he was leading a Team Canada Trade Mission to India this month to explore opportunities across sectors in India.

“That’s why this month I am leading a Team Canada Trade Mission to India, bringing close to 300 Canadian delegates from businesses across key sectors to make connections, find new customers and pursue opportunities in one of the world’s fastest-growing markets,” Sidhu said.

He said from critical minerals and energy to agriculture, technology and other sectors where Canada is a global leader, we are helping Canadian companies build partnerships and grow in India.

In a separate post on X, Goyal said he had a “productive meeting” with the Canadian Trade Minister Maninder Sidhu and reviewed the ongoing negotiations for the India-Canada Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA).

The India-Canada CEPA was launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney in March to take bilateral trade to USD 50 billion by 2030.

“Building on our recent meeting in Mumbai, we reaffirmed our commitment to expediting negotiations and working towards an early conclusion of the agreement,” Goyal said.