India-Canada Ministerial Dialogue on Trade & Investment

Table of Contents

India-Canada Ministerial Dialogue- Relevance for UPSC Exam

GS Paper 2: International Relations- Bilateral, regional and global groupings and agreements involving India and/or affecting India’s interests.

India-Canada Ministerial Dialogue on Trade & Investment in news

Recently, India and Canada held the fifth Ministerial Dialogue on Trade & Investment (MDTI) which was co-chaired by the Indian Minister of Commerce and Industry and his Canadian Counterpart.

Key agreements at fifth India-Canada Ministerial Dialogue on Trade & Investment

Finalizing India-Canada CEPA: Ministers agreed to formally re-launch the negotiations for India-Canada Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA).
Interim Agreement: They will also consider an Interim Agreement or Early Progress Trade Agreement (EPTA) that could bring early commercial gains to both countries. The Interim Agreement would include-
- High-level commitments in goods, services, rules of origin, sanitary and phytosanitary measures, technical barriers to trade, and dispute settlement, and
- May also cover any other areas mutually agreed upon.
Promoting Agricultural exports: Both countries agreed to undertake intensified work with respect to the recognition of Canada’s systems approach to pest risk management in pulses and market access for Indian agriculture goods such as sweet corn, baby corn and banana etc.
Facilitating Organic Exports: Canada agreed to examine expeditiously the request for Conformity Verification Body (CVB) status to APEDA (Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority) for facilitating Indian organic export products.
Establishing Resilient Supply Chains: They acknowledged the significance of establishing resilient supply chains in critical sectors and exchanged views on collaboration in this area.
People to People Cooperation: They also noted the role of strong people-to-people ties between the two countries, including the movement of professionals and skilled workers, students, and business travellers, in strengthening the bilateral economic partnership.

Significance of India-Canada Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA)

India-Canada Comprehensive trade agreement would help in expanding bilateral trade in goods and services through unlocking the potential across sectors.
India-Canada cooperation across sectors will help in harnessing the full potential of the trade and investment relationship between India and Canada.