After a break of five years, India and Canada resumed talks on a free trade agreement (FTA) last week, aiming to conclude an interim or ‘early harvest’ agreement within the next six to nine months, Indian government sources said on Monday, April 25.
The FTA negotiations commenced after a high level meeting of India’s commerce minister Piyush Goyal and his Canadian counterpart Mary Ng last month, which emphasized the resumption of talks and the speedy conclusion of a deal.
The first round of the India-Canada FTA talks had been initiated way back in 2010, but stalled and started again in 2017, but failed to arrive at an agreement.
Indian exports to Canada total an estimated $3.6 billion and exports from Canada to India amount to around $2.9 billion.