Canada, India restart trade talks under new process, says Sidhu

Canada and India are reopening trade talks after a two-year freeze, with both sides aiming for what Ottawa calls a “new process”, Canadian Trade Minister Maninder Sidhu said on Thursday in New Delhi.

Sidhu met Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal for what he described as a productive discussion on cooperation in critical minerals, clean energy, agriculture, aerospace and artificial intelligence.

He said the shift follows the arrival of Prime Minister Mark Carney’s government and changing global dynamics. “It’s a new government, a new focus, a new mandate,” Sidhu said.

The minister said Canada welcomes Indian investment in its critical mineral and energy sectors, stressing that the country holds all the materials needed to build an electric battery.

Talks had been suspended in 2023 after relations soured over the killing of a Canadian Sikh separatist Hardeep Singh Nijjar, but both sides now appear ready to move forward.

Nijjar, 45, was shot dead in June 2023 by masked gunmen in a busy car park in a Vancouver suburb.

Then Canadian Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau alleged that the Indian government was involved in the plot, sparking a diplomatic row between the two countries.

Two-way trade reached about $31 billion in 2024, driven mainly by Canada’s $16 billion in services exports.

Copied