Canada PM may visit India in March, ink C$2.8 billion uranium deal

Two sides likely to sign pacts on AI, critical minerals, and uranium supply during the visit

Canadian Prime Minister (PM) Mark Carney could visit India in the first week of March, and the two sides are looking at formally starting their negotiations on a free trade deal, with New Delhi and Ottawa having resolved to double bilateral trade to $50 billion by 2030.

 

The two sides could also sign agreements on artificial intelligence (AI), critical minerals, energy, and a 10-year C$2.8 billion uranium supply deal during Carney’s visit. India is exploring more investments from Canadian pension funds as well.

 

On Tuesday morning, External Affairs Minister (EAM) S Jaishankar posted on X that he had a telephonic conversation with his Canadian counterpart Anita Anand where the two “discussed the deepening of” India-Canada “bilateral cooperation and continued high level exchanges”.

 

 

A Reuters report quoted India’s High Commissioner to Canada Dinesh Patnaik having said in an interview on Sunday that the Canadian PM could visit India in the first week of March. “I have a feeling the first week of March is what we are looking at," Patnaik said.

 

The Indian diplomat said Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal are likely to visit Canada very soon, and that a trade deal could be signed within a year once the negotiations begin. The two sides are currently finalising the terms of reference for the negotiations, sources said.

 

Canada's Energy Minister Tim Hodgson is visiting India to attend the India Energy Week being held in Goa from January 27 to 30. According to the Reuters report, Hodgson said the timing of Carney's trip was not yet set. “There are plans for the Prime Minister to visit at some point this year, it will depend on the progress we make,” Hodgson said on Sunday.

 

The report said Carney's office declined to comment. Australia's Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said on Sunday that the Canadian PM would visit Australia in March to address Parliament.

 

Carney and PM Narendra Modi last met in November in Johannesburg on the margins of the G20 Summit, where the two asked their respective officials to get on with the negotiations on the India-Canada trade deal, the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement, or CEPA.

 

Last week, Carney told the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos that his country has shifted its strategic posture and is working on new trade and security partnerships, including one with India. Carney is trying to diversify from his country’s dependence on its neighbour US. His Davos speech followed an agreement with China to slash tariffs on electric vehicles (EVs) and canola, and open up to $5.11 billion in export markets.

 

PM Modi had travelled to Canada to attend the G7 Summit in June, which marked the “reset” in ties between the two countries after bilateral relations plummeted during the tenure of then Canadian PM Justin Trudeau in 2024. Several of Carney's ministers have travelled to India in recent months. Canadian National Security and Intelligence Adviser Nathalie G Drouin visited India in September and its Foreign Minister Anand was in New Delhi in October.

 

Patnaik said that formal negotiations for a CEPA should also start in March. Carney will sign smaller agreements with the Indian government on nuclear energy, oil and gas, the environment, AI and quantum computing as well as deals on education and culture during his visit, he said, adding that a 10-year C$2.8 billion uranium supply deal is likely to be included.

 

The two countries are set to announce agreements in energy and mining, including on critical minerals and crude oil and LNG transactions in the run up to Carney’s visit, Patnaik has indicated. He said the two countries should “work together to have an agreement that protects us from the vagaries of the international order”.

 

US President Donald Trump on Saturday threatened 100 per cent tariffs on Canada if it signed a deal with China. Carney responded that Canada respects its commitments under the US-Mexico-Canada Agreement to not pursue free trade agreements with non-market economies.

 

India-Canada ties have looked up after Carney’s election as his country’s PM last year. After the Modi-Carney meeting in Johannesburg, India’s Ministry of External Affairs said the two sides will start negotiations on a “high ambition” CEPA aimed at “doubling bilateral trade” to $50 billion by 2030.

 

Meanwhile, Universities Canada, an umbrella organisation of that country’s higher educational institutions, has announced that 21 university presidents from across Canada will visit India in the first week of February. It said the visit was in the context of the renewed momentum in Canada-India relations and the launch of negotiations toward a CEPA. The delegation will be in India from February 2 to 6 and will meet leaders from India’s higher education sector, government, and industry in Goa, New Delhi and Gujarat International Finance Tec-City (GIFT City) to explore opportunities for research collaboration, academic exchange and sustainable models of transnational education.