AP file photo
NEW DELHI: Canada’s prime minister, Mark Carney, will travel to India from February 26, according to an official statement from Carney’s office.”Prime Minister Carney will first visit Mumbai, then New Delhi, India, where he will meet with Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The leaders will focus on elevating and expanding the Canada-India relationship, with ambitious new partnerships in trade, energy, technology and artificial intelligence (AI), talent and culture, and defence. He will meet with business leaders to identify investment opportunities in Canada and create new partnerships between businesses in both nations,” the statement read.It further said that Canada’s new government was focused on what it could control in a “more divided and uncertain world” and deepen regional ties through visits to its strongest Indo-Pacific partners including India, Australia and Japan.Speaking ahead of the visit, India’s High Commissioner to Canada, Dinesh Patnaik, said he was hopeful that India and Canada could finalise a comprehensive trade agreement within a year, despite earlier delays in talks, according to The Canadian Press.This will be Carney’s first visit to India since assuming office after Justin Trudeau, and comes amid signs of improving relations between the two countries.In 2024, India was Canada’s seventh-largest trading partner in goods and services, with total bilateral trade reaching $30.8 billion. At the G20 Leaders’ Summit last year, Canada and India agreed to formally begin negotiations on an ambitious Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA). The proposed deal aims to help more than double two-way trade to $70 billion by 2030.
