Piyush Goyal to go to Canada on Monday amid push to fast-track FTA talks

Commerce and Trade Minister Piyush Goyal will start his three-day go to to Canada from Monday, accompanied by a enterprise delegation and a staff of negotiators, to speed up commerce talks for the proposed Complete Financial Partnership Settlement (CEPA) by December.

Each side had concluded the second spherical of negotiations on Could 8.

“I’d not name the upcoming go to the third spherical of negotiations, it’s extra of an extension of the second spherical,” a commerce ministry official stated on the situation of anonymity. The third spherical of negotiations is scheduled for July in Ottawa.

On the second spherical of negotiations in New Delhi, the 2 sides had held detailed discussions throughout a variety of chapters, together with commerce in items and companies, mental property, guidelines of origin, sanitary and phytosanitary measures, and technical boundaries to commerce, amongst others.

The upcoming go to will mark the primary minister-level discussions between India and Canada after the signing of the phrases of reference for the free-trade settlement in March. In the course of the go to, the minister is prone to take inventory of the progress of the discussions up to now, the official stated.

The 2 nations, which had a bilateral commerce of $7.96 billion in FY26, intention to lift it to $50 billion by 2030. India’s key exports embody medicine & prescribed drugs, iron & metal, seafood, cotton clothes, digital items, and chemical compounds. India had a commerce surplus of $1.39 billion with Canada in FY26.

Canada, house to 425,000 Indian college students, can also be a key marketplace for India’s companies exports like telecommunications, laptop, and data companies, and different enterprise companies. The sector is anticipated to develop additional following the conclusion of the CEPA.

India-Canada commerce talks have undergone appreciable ebb and circulation. The 2 sides resumed discussions after a decade in March 2022 however negotiations paused in September 2023 following the then Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s allegations that the Indian authorities was concerned within the assassination of Hardeep Singh Nijjar, a Canada-based Khalistan separatist, designated as a terrorist by New Delhi. India had strongly denied the allegation.

The Federation of Indian Export Organisations (FIEO) President, S C Ralhan stated Goyal’s go to displays the dedication of each nations to rebuild financial engagement and accelerating discussions on the proposed CEPA. Ralhan stated that the proposed commerce settlement will open new alternatives for Indian exporters, significantly MSMEs, by bettering market entry, facilitating smoother commerce procedures, and inspiring better collaboration in know-how and innovation-driven sectors. “Amid evolving international commerce dynamics and provide chain realignments, stronger India-Canada commerce relations can contribute positively to financial resilience and progress for each nations,” he added.