PM Modi’s Canada visit likely this year as CEPA talks gain momentum: Report

Prime Minister Narendra Modi may travel to Canada this year to finalise the free trade deal that is currently under negotiation.

PM Modi and his Canadian counterpart,
Mark Carney, announced that both countries have begun negotiations on the comprehensive economic partnership agreement or CEPA during the latter’s visit to New Delhi earlier this year.

While two rounds of negotiations on a trade deal have concluded, a third round is set to begin in the coming weeks.

India’s High Commissioner to Ottawa, Dinesh Patnaik, told Hindustan Times, “We are expecting him by the end of the year or by the beginning of next year.”

When the visit takes place, it will mark the first standalone bilateral trip by an Indian prime minister to Canada since April 2015, when Stephen Harper was still in office. PM Modi did not visit Canada during Justin Trudeau’s decade as prime minister.

However, PM Modi went to Canada in June last year to attend the G7 Leaders’ Summit in Kananaskis after receiving an invitation from Carney. That invitation, along with their meeting on the sidelines of the summit in Alberta, helped pave the way for a reset in bilateral relations.

Piyush Goyal’s Canada visit

The development comes as Commerce and Industry Minister
Piyush Goyal visited Canada earlier this week, where he met Carney and other business stakeholders.

Goyal on Tuesday said India and Canada are negotiating the proposed free trade agreement with “full sincerity” and expressed confidence that the talks could be concluded before the end of the year, possibly by October.

Addressing a business event in Toronto, Goyal said both countries see significant opportunities to deepen economic collaboration across sectors, including innovation, seafood, education, finance, insurance, biotechnology and pharmaceuticals.

He said Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Canadian counterpart had directed officials to work in “mission mode” to finalise a comprehensive trade pact.

“The prime ministers of India and Canada have tasked both Canada’s Trade Minister Maninder Sidhu and me to make sure that we work in a mission mode and finalise a very comprehensive economic partnership agreement (CEPA) before the end of the year,” PTI quoted Goyal as saying.