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Canadian and Indian officials have expressed optimism about ongoing negotiations on a proposed free trade agreement during a business summit in Regina, amid renewed engagement between the two countries after trade talks stalled in 2023, according to media reports. Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe, Canada's High Commissioner to India Chris Cooter and India's High Commissioner to Canada Dinesh Patnaik, on Friday, participated in the Western Canada-India Leaders Summit in Regina, capital city of the Saskatchewan province, where they discussed bilateral ties and negotiations on the proposed Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA), and spoke with delegations. According to Canadian broadcaster CBC News, Cooter said negotiations on the agreement were continuing and expressed confidence that a deal could be reached later this year. "The free trade agreement will happen. I have no doubt." CBC also reported that Patnaik said negotiations were ongoing. Moe described the relationship
India and Canada have launched a trade and investment forum to bring together businesses from both countries to promote commercial engagement, according to a joint statement issued on Friday. The two countries have also agreed to enhance connectivity between India and Canada, including people to people ties, business mobility, and direct commercial linkages, as essential enablers of expanded trade and investment, it said. The statement was issued after the conclusion of a three-day (May 25-27) official visit of Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal. He has held a series of meetings with business leaders besides holding a bilateral meeting with Canada's Minister of International Trade, Maninder Sidhu. "The Ministers launched the Canada-India Trade and Investment Forum as a key platform that brings together Canadian and Indian business leaders and fosters new commercial partnerships and increased business engagement," it said. They reiterated their commitment to advancing an
India and Canada have decided to focus on low-hanging fruit, work on areas of convergence and avoid seeking concessions in sensitive sectors in the negotiations for the proposed free trade agreement, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal has said. The two countries are negotiating a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA). The third round of negotiations is underway in Ottawa. The minister was in Canada for a three-day official visit. "I remember when I was talking to Mr Maninder Sidhu (Canada's trade minister) about speeding up CEPA negotiations, one of the first elementary decisions we both took was that 'we won't make perfect the enemy of the good'. "Let's capture the low-hanging fruit. Let's look at areas of convergence. Let's leave the sensitive things out of the agreement. If something is sensitive for Canada, no sense in trying to egg on and trying to get that into the CEPA. Likewise, if something is sensitive for India or the Indian public or Indian ...
Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal has held meetings with Canada's leading pension funds, sovereign and institutional investors, and invited stakeholders to partner with India in areas such as clean energy, technology, digital infrastructure, AI, and manufacturing. The minister is in Canada for a three-day official visit. "Delighted to co-chair the 'Canada-India Investment Roundtable' alongside Mr. @MSidhuLiberal, Minister of International Trade of Canada. Held extensive discussions with Canada's leading pension funds, sovereign and institutional investors, members of the Canada-India Business Council and other stakeholders," Goyal said in a social media post. During the meeting, he highlighted India's focus on infrastructure, financial sector reforms and ease of doing business to create opportunities for global investors. Goyal also held a series of bilateral meetings with business representatives to discuss investment opportunities in India and areas of increasing ...
Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal on Saturday said he will lead a business delegation of over 150 members to Canada on May 25-27 to seek investments, enhance collaborations and give impetus to talks for the proposed free trade agreement (FTA). He said that a series of meetings is in the pipeline with leaders and businesses in Ottawa and Toronto. The minister will call on Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney and hold a bilateral meeting with his Canadian counterpart Maninder Sidhu. Goyal said that he will also meet representatives of "Maple 8" pension funds of Canada. The "Maple 8" refers to Canada's eight largest public pension funds, which together manage assets worth about 2.4 trillion Canadian dollars and are considered among the world's most influential long-term investors. The group includes major funds like the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan, and Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System. These funds invest extensively acros
Three Indian-origin persons have been found guilty of first-degree murder by a court in Canada in connection with the killing of a couple in Abbotsford, according to local broadcaster CBC News. Arnold and Joanne De Jong were found dead in their Abbotsford residence in May 2022. Four years later, British Columbia Supreme Court Justice Brenda Brown on Friday ruled that Gurkaran Singh, Abhijeet Singh and Khushveer Toor played a willing and integral role in the couple's murder, the broadcaster reported. The judge agreed with prosecutors that the murders were financially motivated and rejected defence arguments that the deaths resulted from a robbery that went wrong, the report said. Prosecutors told the court the three men had jointly planned to rob and kill the couple, and they stole credit cards, cheques and a power washer from the house. The three men worked together for a cleaning company owned by Abhijeet Singh, which had previously carried out work at the De Jongs' home. The ..
India and Canada on Monday started second round of negotiations for a free trade agreement aimed at boosting two-way commerce and investments, an official said. The pact is officially known as the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) and negotiations will cover trade in goods, services, and other mutually agreed policy areas. "The five-day talks started on May 4 here," the official said. The first round was held in March. This round is important as Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal will visit Canada by end of this month to give an impetus to the negotiations. The negotiations mark the resumption of talks, as the two countries had earlier engaged in a similar exercise, but Canada paused it in 2023. Now, they decided to resume talks from the beginning as a lot has changed on the global trade front during these two years. The negotiations are important as the two sides have fixed a target to increase the bilateral trade to USD 50 billion by 2030. It stood at
A man, known to be of Indian origin, has been killed in Canada's Surrey in an incident of shooting allegedly related to organised crime, local media reported. The shooting incident was reported from a townhouse complex in Surrey's Sullivan Heights on Saturday night, in which a man was shot dead, Global News reported. The Integrated Homicide Investigation Team (IHIT) said in an update on Monday that the victim has been identified as 27-year-old Jasman Sekhon, CTV News reported. "Sekhon had previous interactions with the police and was believed to be involved in the drug trade. Early indications suggest this was a targeted incident related to organised crime," the report said, quoting the IHIT's statement. According to witnesses, Sekhon was first chased by a dark SUV after which two men stepped out of it and started shooting at him, the report said. Officials found Sekhon with gunshot wounds when they arrived and failed to revive him, it added. A burning vehicle was found nearby a
There are "no longer clandestine activities or transnational repression taking place" in Canada that are linked to the government of India, Canada's police chief has said. Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) Commissioner Mike Duheme made the comments during an interview with CTV News. "We're not seeing any connection right now with any foreign entity, based on the criminal information, the investigations that we have presently," he said while responding to a question whether "transnational repression by agents of India" was still a concern. "I'm saying that based on the totality of the files that we have on foreign interference or transnational repression, what we have in our holdings is we have people that are intimidating people, harassing people, but connecting the dots to a foreign entity, regardless of the country, we don't have that," Duheme said in the interview that would be aired on Sunday. His comments came following months of diplomatic tensions between Canada and ...
