Canada, India trade talks paused, says Piyush Goyal days after Trudeau visit for G20 summit

India-Canada trade talks frozen due to disagreements on “certain issues”. India-Canada talks for Early Progress Trade Agreement (EPTA) have held 6 rounds, but stalled after India objected to pro-Khalistan activities in Canada. Canada cancelled trade mission to India, and PM Trudeau's visit to Delhi was delayed due to security concerns. India pursuing post-COVID economic diplomacy with multiple countries, including Gulf Cooperation Council, Israel, EU and Bangladesh.

Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal on Saturday confirmed that the ongoing trade negotiation with Canada has frozen due to disagreements on “certain issues”. Mr. Goyal’s remarks came soon after Canada cancelled a trade mission to India that was to arrive in Mumbai in October.

“We have given the trade dialogue with Canada a pause. We need to make sure that geopolitically and economically we are on the same page…we have had certain issues which are of serious concern and have been highlighted in the bilateral meeting [between PM Modi and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau],” said Mr. Goyal in an interview with media outlet First Post.

The confirmation on stalling the discussion came in the backdrop of a series of negative developments that included growing sympathy for Khalistani activists among lawmakers in Canada.

Earlier this month, Indian High Commissioner to Canada Sanjay Kumar Verma had indicated that the talks had stalled.

“The Canadian side has requested that, let’s take a pause and then we’ll restart. There is an honest request from the Canadian side, and we have no reason not to accept it,” Mr. Verma told The Canadian Press on September 1.

This was followed by remarks by Canadian officials who accompanied Prime Minister Trudeau to the G20 summit here during which they said that India had strongly objected to certain political developments within Canada.

India and Canada have held six rounds of trade talks for Early Progress Trade Agreement (EPTA) so far and the sixth round of the discussion was held in Ottawa in the first week of May between Mr. Goyal and Mary Ng, Canada’s Minister of International Trade, Export Promotion, Small Business and Economic Development.