India and Canada on Monday formally launched negotiations for a Complete Financial Partnership Settlement (CEPA), marking a renewed push to increase bilateral trade and financial ties.
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The Ministry of Commerce & Trade stated the 2 sides signed the Phrases of Reference (ToR) for the India-Canada CEPA in New Delhi. The doc was signed by Commerce and Trade Minister Piyush Goyal and Canada’s Minister of Worldwide Trade Maninder Sidhu on March 2, 2026, and exchanged in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney at Hyderabad Home.
Through the ceremony, Prime Minister Modi outlined an bold trade goal. Through the ceremony, Prime Minister Modi highlighted that the objective for bilateral trade is to succeed in USD50 billion by 2030.
The precedence is to unlock the total potential of financial cooperation for which India and Canada have determined to finalise the CEPA quickly, the ministry stated.
Prime Minister Carney described the settlement as a part of a broader evolution in bilateral ties. He stated that it’s the growth of a valued partnership with new ambition, focus, and foresight – a partnership between two assured nations charting their very own course for the long run.
The Phrases of Reference will set the construction and roadmap for negotiations. The ToR of negotiations will present the format, frequency, and method to India-Canada CEPA negotiations. It can function a information to facilitate negotiations in order to conclude an bold, balanced, and mutually helpful CEPA, the ministry stated.
The launch of negotiations follows discussions between the 2 leaders on the margins of the G7 assembly in Kananaskis, Canada, in October 2025, the place either side agreed to work towards finalising the ToR.
The proposed CEPA will cowl trade in items, providers, and different mutually agreed coverage areas.
Canada represents a market of 41.65 million individuals in 2025, with a GDP of USD2.34 trillion at buying energy parity. Bilateral trade between India and Canada stood at USD 8.66 billion in FY 2024-25, comprising exports of USD 4.22 billion and imports of USD 4.44 billion, in line with DGCI&S knowledge.
India’s key exports to Canada embrace medication and prescription drugs, iron and metal, seafood, cotton clothes, digital items, and chemical substances. Main imports from Canada embrace pulses, pearls and semiprecious stones, coal, fertilizer, paper, and petroleum crude.
In providers, India’s exports to Canada are led by telecommunications, pc and data providers, and different enterprise providers. The ministry stated these sectors maintain important development potential and are anticipated to increase additional after the conclusion of CEPA.
Past trade, the settlement can also be anticipated to strengthen individuals-to-individuals ties. Canada is residence to greater than 425,000 Indian college students and a big Indian neighborhood.
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