PM Modi likely to visit Canada in December: What’s on the agenda as Carney eyes India-Canada trade deal around G20 | Today’s news
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said this week that trade talks with India are making “good progress” and that the two countries aim to conclude talks by the G20 summit in mid-December.
Carney also said that it was his understanding that India had confirmed that Prime Minister Narendra Modi would visit Canada around that time, although an exact date had not been set, the AP news agency reported.
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“We are making good progress in our trade negotiations with India,” Carney told a news conference on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York.
Negotiators from India and Canada plan to hold a fifth round of talks starting Oct. 5, building on discussions that ended last week, according to people familiar with the matter cited by Bloomberg.
Modi is expected to sign the finalized trade deal, the Globe and Mail reported, citing New Delhi envoy Dinesh Patnaik.
Carney said he and Modi pledged to try to close the G20 talks. The summit is scheduled for December 14-15 at Trump National Doral in Miami, United States, where President Donald Trump will host world leaders.
PM Modi may also visit the G20 summit as reported by some media. The Ministry of External Affairs in Delhi has not confirmed any of Prime Minister Modi’s upcoming visits to the US or Canada.
Carney wants to double Canada’s trade outside the U.S. in the next decade and has made India part of a broader effort to reduce the country’s dependence on the United States as relations deteriorate under President Donald Trump, the AP reported.
Formal negotiations began in March
Canada and India formally opened talks on a comprehensive trade deal in March, with both governments committing to conclude talks by the end of 2026.
The restoration of Indo-Canadian relations follows a deep diplomatic rift following the 2023 killing of Canadian Sikh activist Hardeep Singh Nijjar in British Columbia. Former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said there were credible allegations linking Indian government agents to Nijjar’s murder.
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police later said they had evidence allegedly linking Indian government agents to murders and other acts of violence in Canada.
Carney quickly set about restoring ties. His visit to India earlier this year was the first bilateral visit by a Canadian Prime Minister since 2018.
A visit to Mexico is also on the cards
New Delhi is finalizing a framework with Mexico to begin formal trade talks, the people said, asking not to be identified because the discussions are private, Bloomberg said. The officials are seeking to make faster progress in trade talks as all three countries seek to diversify their trade ties, the report said.
Read also | Why India and Canada are bidding for CEPA by the end of 2026
Mexico’s economy ministry, which oversees the country’s trade negotiations, said an analysis of a potential deal is underway, though there is no concrete or final proposal yet, Bloomberg reported.
Three economies — India, Canada and Mexico — with a combined economic output of more than $8 trillion are facing disruption from Trump’s trade policies. Mexico is trying to reach a deal with the US as the two sides negotiate changes to their existing pact, while Canada-US talks broke down last month. The US is by far the largest export market for both Canada and Mexico.
We are making good progress in our trade negotiations with India.
India faces fresh threats of tariffs from a new law that gives Trump the power to impose up to 100% tariffs on countries that buy Russian oil and gas. New Delhi reached an interim trade deal with the US earlier this year and tariff negotiations were concluded.
(With input from AP and Bloomberg)
