During a business summit in Regina, Canadian and Indian officials expressed optimism about ongoing negotiations on the proposed FTA. This hope has been expressed amid the resumption of engagement between the two countries after the trade talks were stalled in 2023. Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe, Canada’s High Commissioner to India Chris Cooter and India’s High Commissioner to Canada Dinesh Patnaik participated in the ‘Western Canada-India Leaders Summit’ held in Regina, the provincial capital of Saskatchewan on Friday. In this summit, he discussed bilateral relations and the ongoing negotiations on the proposed ‘Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement’ (CEPA), and also spoke to various delegations.
FTA may happen at the end of the year
According to Canadian broadcaster CBC News, Cooter said negotiations are ongoing and expressed confidence that an agreement could be reached by the end of the year. He said that there will definitely be a free trade agreement. I have no doubt about it. CBC also reported that Patnaik also said that talks are ongoing. According to CBC, Moe described the relationship between Saskatchewan and India as important to the province and cited ongoing trade negotiations as a reason to be optimistic. These comments come days after India’s Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal said that the two countries are trying to complete negotiations on a free trade agreement before the end of this year. Also, the Prime Ministers of both the sides have entrusted the responsibility to the officials to complete this agreement and increase the bilateral trade from about $17 billion to $50 billion by 2030.
Why were the talks stalled in 2023?
Trade talks between India and Canada were stalled in 2023 after relations between the two countries soured following Canadian allegations of involvement of Indian agents in the killing of Sikh separatist Hardeep Singh Nijjar in British Columbia. India had rejected these allegations as “absurd” and “politically motivated”. In recent months, trade relations between the two countries have increased again. During his visit to Canada earlier this week, Goyal said Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney’s recent visit to India has “completely changed” the way the two countries view each other and has set a platform for a comprehensive improvement in relations. CBC reported that Moe credited Carney with helping to restart engagement with India. This also includes his visit to Mumbai and New Delhi earlier this year, in which Mo also participated.
There will be talk on agri products
During the discussion in this summit, trade in agricultural products was also discussed. According to CBC News and Global News, Moe said he hoped pulse crops would be included in any future trade agreement, but he also indicated that even if they were not included, it would not be a reason to break the agreement. Global News reported that Moe said Saskatchewan could operate despite the existing tariffs imposed by India on pulse imports, even if these tariffs are not removed under any future agreement. Last year, India imposed a 30 percent duty on imported yellow peas and a 10 percent duty on lentils, impacting Canadian exports of these crops.
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