All possibilities on table: Goyal on resuming FTA talks with Canada

Visakhapatnam, Nov 15 (PTI) Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal has said all possibilities are on the table regarding the resumption of free trade agreement (FTA) negotiations with Canada.

Goyal said he has held two rounds of discussions with Canada's Minister of Export Promotion, International Trade and Economic Development Maninder Sidhu and both are exploring ways to strengthen bilateral cooperation and the strategic partnership.

"All possibilities are on the table. We have had two rounds of discussions now - we met in Delhi for a high-level ministerial meeting. We met (here) briefly to discuss the way forward to strengthen bilateral cooperation and strategic partnership," Goyal said here.

He was replying to a question whether there are any expectations of resumption of FTA talks between the two countries in the coming days in the wake of increasing engagements.

Sidhu was here to participate in the CII Partnership Summit 2025.

Both the ministers co-chaired the India-Canada Ministerial Dialogue on Trade and Investment (MDTI) meeting in New Delhi this week.

In that meeting, both held discussions on ways to promote bilateral trade and investments besides advancing collaborations in areas, including supply chain resilience, and health sectors.

These deliberations are important as in 2023, Canada had paused negotiations for a free trade agreement with India.

The India-Canada relations hit rock bottom following then Prime Minister 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, officially dubbed as Early Progress Trade Agreement (EPTA).

Over half a dozen rounds of talks have been held on the trade pact so far.

Normally in a trade agreement, two countries significantly reduce or eliminate customs duties on the maximum number of goods traded between them. They also liberalise norms for promoting trade in services and attract investments.

India's exports to Canada rose 9.8 per cent to USD 4.22 billion in 2024-25 from USD 3.84 billion in 2023-24. Imports, however, dipped 2.33 per cent to USD 4.44 billion in the last fiscal year from USD 4.55 billion in 2023-24.

The renewed vibrancy in ties between the two countries followed Prime Minister Narendra Modi's talks with his Canadian counterpart Mark Carney on the margins of the G7 summit at Canada's Kananaskis in June.

Bilateral trade in goods and services between India and Canada stood at USD 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. PTI RR ANU ANU