India-Canada trade deal on the cards? Maninder Sidhu may visit in October before PM Modi’s December trip: Report | Today’s news

Canadian Trade Minister Maninder Sidhu is likely to visit India in mid-October as both sides seek to speed up negotiations on a trade deal. If confirmed, this will be Sidhu’s second trip in less than a month.

Sidhu is expected to meet Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal in New Delhi soon after the fifth round of India-Canada Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) talks to be held in Canada from October 5, sources told Hindustan Times.

Sidhu’s visit, expected around October 15, will coincide with a trip to India by a major Canadian trade mission to explore trade and investment opportunities, people familiar with the planning on both sides said.

“Obviously, the trade deal is not done until all issues are agreed. But both sides intend to conclude negotiations as soon as possible,” one person said.

Sources said that most of the key issues surrounding the proposed CEPA have been resolved by officials on both sides, with interventions at the political level now needed to resolve contentious matters that require ministerial authority.

Canada’s International Trade Minister Maninder Sidhu was in Mumbai from September 18-19 to hold talks with Goyal.

Fifth round of talks between India and Canada

The fifth round of talks on the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) between India and Canada will be held from October 5, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal said last week.

“…the next 90 days should be a very defining period in the relationship between Canada and India,” he told reporters.

The fourth round of negotiations ended on September 18. Talks are moving at a faster pace as both countries aim to conclude negotiations by the end of this year.

“Both sides have decided to speed up the negotiations, with this in mind, our team is now scheduled to go for the fifth round on October 5,” Goyal said.

The five-day negotiations may end on October 9.

India and Canada have been negotiating a comprehensive trade pact for more than a decade. Negotiations formally resumed in March 2022, with both sides also eyeing an Early Progress trade deal as an interim step. Nine rounds of negotiations took place between 2022 and 2023 before the process was suspended in August 2023 amid a period of strain in bilateral relations.

Trade engagement gained momentum again in 2025. The two countries subsequently launched a new CEPA process, with Goyal and Sidhu signing the terms of the mandate on 2 March 2026 during Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney’s visit to India.

Both governments have pledged to strive to conclude negotiations by the end of 2026.

PM Modi plans to visit Canada for trade deal

According to Bloomberg, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney had previously said Prime Minister Narendra Modi was likely to visit the country in December, confirming media reports that a deal could be struck then.

Prime Minister Modi is expected to visit Canada in December and sign a finalized trade deal, the Globe and Mail reported, citing New Delhi’s envoy Dinesh Patnaik. The trip is likely to coincide with the Group of 20 meeting in Miami.

PM Modi is going to visit USA, Canada and Belgium around mid-December. While attending the G20 summit in the US, he is expected to visit Canada and Belgium to push for trade ties. The India-EU Free Trade Agreement is expected to be signed during his visit to Belgium, Hindustan Times reported.

Carney on Tuesday described Canada’s relationship with India as “extremely important” and said trade talks are going well — in line with comments by his trade minister, Maninder Sidhu, in an interview with Bloomberg TV this week.

India’s major exports to Canada include pharmaceuticals, iron and steel, seafood, cotton garments, electronic goods and chemicals.

Key imports from Canada include pulses, pearls and semi-precious stones, coal, fertilizers, paper and petroleum.

Indian services exports to Canada are led by telecommunications, computer and information services and other business services.

Two-way trade reached $30.4 billion in 2025 and is on target to double to $70 billion by 2030.