India, Canada hold talks to promote investment, renew economic ties

India and Canada on Thursday held discussions on ways to promote bilateral trade and investments besides advancing collaborations in areas, including supply chain resilience and health sectors. The issues were discussed during the India-Canada Ministerial Dialogue on Trade and Investment (MDTI) meeting, which was co-chaired by Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal, and Canada’s Minister of Export Promotion, International Trade and Economic Development Maninder Sidhu.

The ministers reaffirmed their commitment to fostering an open, transparent and predictable business environment that supports sustainable growth, the commerce ministry said. “Discussions focused on strengthening bilateral economic ties and advancing sectoral collaboration across priority domains, including nutritional security, supply chain resilience, health sector cooperation and investment facilitation,” it said. They also reviewed recent trade policy developments, covering trade in goods and services, and exchanged views to enhance market access, promote regulatory alignment, and support long-term economic resilience. Bilateral trade in goods and services between India and Canada stood at $18.38 billion in 2023. There are about 2.9 million Indian diaspora and over 427,000 Indian students in Canada. The two ministers also held talks in October this year. The discussions are important as in 2023, Canada had paused negotiations for a free trade agreement with India.

The relations hit rock bottom after then PM Justin Trudeau’s allegations in 2023 of a potential Indian link to the killing of Hardeep Singh Nijjar. India had dismissed Trudeau’s accusation as “absurd”. In March 2022, the two countries had re-launched negotiations for an interim agreement, Early Progress Trade Agreement.