Canada-India negotiating economic partnership agreement to double two-way trade by 2030: PM Carney

Mumbai, Feb 28 (PTI) Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney on Saturday said his country is negotiating a comprehensive economic partnership agreement with India with the intention to double two-way trade by 2030.

It is expected to be signed by end of this year, Carney said while addressing the Canada-India Forum here. The Canadian PM is on a four-day visit of India.

"This is an enormous opportunity for both our countries.. but it is one that is about to move to the next level. We should aim much higher, and we are aiming much higher, and to be more strategic in our partnership. And that's why, immediately after my election last year, our government set out to renew our relationship with India," he said.

"I invited Prime Minister Modi to the G7 Summit in Canada. When he came a few weeks later, we agreed to re-engage across security, energy and technology. A few months later, at the G20 Summit in Johannesburg, Prime Minister Modi and I launched a landmark partnership with Australia on critical minerals and technology," Carney said.

During this visit, Canada is focused on core areas where it can work together to create that greater sovereignty, greater choice, and greater prosperity for our people, he said.

"That naturally begins with food and energy, given Canada's position as a food and energy superpower," he said, adding that it also extends to nuclear cooperation, from being the most reliable long-term supplier of uranium to building large-scale and SMR (Small Modular Reactors).

"We could also be India's strategic partner in critical minerals and metals for your manufacturing, for your clean tech, and for your nuclear industries. And in the other respect, India can help us to double our grid with clean power by 2040," he added.

India's leadership in AI and the digital economy aligns well with Canada's mission to develop and commercialize those technologies, as well as quantum, to deepen its defence innovation, PM Carney asserted.

"Canada is clear-eyed about the world as it is, and we are equally determined to forge a new path in it. We are a confident and ambitious nation, and that confidence, that ambition, brings us here to India. To lay the foundations that have been laid by tens of millions of citizens in both our nations. To work together to create a more resilient, a more prosperous, and a more just future for our peoples," he said. PTI SM BNM