India, Canada to Begin Fifth Round of CEPA Trade Talks in Ottawa Today

India and Canada will begin the fifth round of negotiations for the proposed Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) in Ottawa on Monday, as both sides aim to finalise the trade agreement by the end of 2026.

The five-day round, led by the chief negotiators of both countries, will continue until October 9. The previous round concluded in New Delhi on September 18, and officials are now pushing for faster progress towards the final agreement.

Trade Talks Gain Momentum

The trade negotiations have gained further momentum as Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected to visit Canada around December, when both countries are planning to complete the final agreement. Meanwhile, Canadian Trade Minister Maninder Sidhu is scheduled to visit New Delhi later this month with a 300-member business delegation.

During their meeting in New Delhi in March this year, Prime Minister Modi and his Canadian counterpart had set an end-of-year target for completing negotiations on the CEPA between the two countries. They also agreed to deepen bilateral cooperation in the energy and critical minerals sectors.

India-Canada Trade Target

According to the joint statement issued after the summit, the leaders expressed confidence that a comprehensive trade framework would provide a strong economic foundation for the partnership and support their shared ambition of increasing bilateral trade to 70 billion Canadian dollars (Rs 4.65 lakh crore) by 2030.

In 2024-25, bilateral trade in goods between India and Canada stood at 8.66 billion dollars, while India's exports to Canada reached 4.22 billion dollars.

Major Indian Exports to Canada

India's major exports to Canada include pharmaceutical products, machinery parts and mechanical equipment, articles of iron and steel, electronic goods, organic chemicals, jewellery, gems and precious stones, clothing and textiles, seafood, engineering goods and auto parts.

In services exports from India to Canada, the Indian IT sector is a major contributor.

India-Canada Diplomatic Relations Improve

Prime Minister Carney's visit to India paved the way for a significant improvement in diplomatic relations between the two countries. Relations had reached a very low point during the tenure of his predecessor, Justin Trudeau.

The Trudeau government had faced allegations that it was encouraging Sikh extremists in Canada to advance an anti-India agenda as part of its electoral politics.