PM Modi holds talks with Canadian counterpart on margins of G20

Johannesburg, Nov 23 (PTI) Prime Minister Narendra Modi met Canadian counterpart Mark Carney here on Sunday and they agreed to unlock the potential for deeper cooperation in defence and space sectors, besides advancing ties in areas such as trade, investment, technology and energy.

"Had a very productive meeting with Prime Minister Mark Carney of Canada," Modi said in a social media post after the meeting on the sidelines of the G20 Summit here.

This was the second meeting between the two leaders. They earlier met in June on the margins of the G7 summit at Kananaskis in Canada.

"We appreciated the significant momentum in our bilateral ties since our earlier meeting held during the G7 Summit hosted by Canada. We agreed to further advance our relations in the coming months, particularly in trade, investment, technology and innovation, energy and education," Modi said.

He said that India and Canada have great potential in strengthening trade and investment linkages. "We have set a target of 50 billion USD by 2030 for our bilateral trade. Canadian Pension Funds are also showing keen interest in Indian companies," he said.

The India-Canada bilateral trade surpassed USD 30 billion in 2024.

In 2024, India was Canada's seventh-largest goods and services trading partner.

The two countries also agreed to unlock the potential for deeper cooperation in defence and space sectors and meet again in the near future, Modi added.

Earlier this month, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar met his Canadian counterpart Anita Anand on the sidelines of the G7 foreign ministers’ meeting in Niagara and discussed cooperation on trade, energy, security, and people-to-people ties.

His trip to Canada came a month after Anand visited India, during which both sides unveiled an ambitious roadmap to boost ties in areas of trade, critical minerals and energy.

Canada's international trade minister Maninder Sidhu also visited India this month to explore ways to advance bilateral trade and investment ties.

In 2024, India was Canada's seventh-largest goods and services trading partner.

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 his accusation as "absurd".

The two sides have taken several steps in recent months to normalise their relations. They have also agreed to revive several mechanisms to advance relations in a range of areas. PTI RD ZH RD RD