Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney has accepted Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s invitation to visit India next year even as the two countries have embarked on a comprehensive economic partnership agreement to double trade (between the two countries) to $50 billion (CAD 70 billion) by 2030.

Union commerce minister Piyush Goyal described the deal as a “high ambition” one, adding that the “strengths of Canada, and strengths of India, together can become a force multiplier for businesses, for investors…”

Goyal’s comments, on Monday, in a talk in Delhi to the Indo-Canadian Business Chamber, came even as the Canadian PMO said in a statement that such a comprehensive trade deal could serve as a “powerful economic anchor” between the two countries.

The decision to launch negotiations towards a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) was announced following a bilateral meeting between PM Modi and his Canadian counterpart Carney on the margins of the G20 Leaders’ Summit in Johannesburg on Sunday.

A readout of the meeting issued by the Canadian PMO on Sunday said, “The leaders expressed confidence that the CEPA will serve as a powerful economic anchor and help more than double two-way trade to CAD 70 billion by 2030.”

The two countries also agreed to “enhance diplomatic staffing levels to meet growing consular demands and to strengthen people-to-people linkages, including through reciprocal knowledge transfer”.

The comprehensive trade talks that the two countries will soon embark on will be more expansive than the earlier ones that were discontinued in September 2023 because of a diplomatic row, two people aware of the development said, requesting anonymity.

Canada and India first entered into CEPA talks in 2010 but those were scrapped once Justin Trudeau became Prime Minister in 2015. Fresh negotiations commenced but did not culminate in a deal before the two countries decided to opt for negotiations towards an Early Progress Trade Agreement (EPTA). Those talks were “paused” by Ottawa in August 2023 just days before Trudeau stated in the House of Commons on September 18 that year that there were “credible allegations” of a potential link between Indian agents and the killing of pro-Khalistan figure Hardeep Singh Nijjar in Surrey, British Columbia, three months earlier. India described those accusations as “absurd” and “motivated” and ties cratered.

A reset was signalled when Carney replaced Trudeau as PM in March this year and it appears to have turned into a renewal of the relationship.

In a post on X prior to leaving Johannesburg for Ottawa, Carney said, “India is the world’s fifth largest economy, and that means big new opportunities for Canadian workers and businesses.”

In a post on X following the bilateral meeting, Modi said, “Had a very productive meeting with Prime Minister Mark Carney of Canada. We appreciated the significant momentum in our bilateral ties since our earlier meeting held during the G7 Summit hosted by Canada.”

He added, “We agreed to further advance our relations in the coming months, particularly in trade, investment, technology and innovation, energy and education.”

Carney also welcomed the progress being made in the law enforcement dialogue.

The Canadian readout also mentioned the “positive momentum in bilateral relations” after the two PMs had their breakthrough meeting on the margins of the G7 Leaders’ Summit in Kananaskis in June. It added that the PMs agreed on the importance of regular reciprocal high-level visits, including by ministers and members of the business community.

Reacting to the outcomes of the bilateral, Vina Nadjibulla, vice-president, research and strategy with the Asia-Pacific Foundation of Canada, said, “The PMs meeting is the clearest sign yet that the Canada–India reset is not only holding — it is accelerating and deepening.” She described the development as “remarkable” and something that “would have been hard to imagine” when she was last in New Delhi in February this year.

“We welcome the restart of trade talks and the opportunity to take a new more ambitious approach to the relationship, including through enhanced energy cooperation,” Goldy Hyder, president and CEO of the Business Council of Canada (BCC) said. A BCC-led trade delegation is expected to accompany Carney on his trip to India in the first quarter of next year.

“The focus now has to be on implementation and make sure that these high-level political commitments are turned into reality and tangible benefits for the economies of both countries,” Nadjibulla said.

“ I think the recent meetings that Prime Minister Modi and Prime Minister Mark Carney have had, including the one very recently at the G20 summit, clearly give a direction for the future of the Canadian-India relationship,” Goyal added.

According to the Canadian government website, India was Canada’s seventh largest goods and services trading partner in 2024 with $30.9 billion two-way trade.

A thaw in the bilateral relationship between India and Canada came after Carney assumed power earlier this year and Modi congratulated him on April 29 on his election as the Prime Minister of Canada. Thereafter, external affairs minister S Jaishankar and Canadian foreign minister Anita Anand discussed the prospects of India-Canada ties on May 25. Later on, June 18, Modi and Carney held a bilateral meeting on the sidelines of the G7 Summit in Kananaskis, Alberta.

In his speech, Goyal said India sees considerable scope for collaboration with Canada in critical minerals, mineral processing technologies, clean energy, nuclear energy and supply-chain diversification. He added that India offers strong advantages in emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI), quantum computing, machine learning and next-generation data centres, supported by the world’s largest annual pool of STEM graduates.