Confident of trade pact ahead of PM Modi's trip: Canada envoy
Canada and India are nearing a trade agreement, with officials expressing confidence that the deal will be finalized before Prime Minister Modi's visit next month. The high commissioner also clarified that recent student visa caps are intended to target fraudulent institutions rather than legitimate applicants.
Why it matters
This signals a significant strengthening of diplomatic and economic ties between India and Canada after a period of tension.
As India and Canada hold the 6th round of trade negotiations this week, Canada's high commissioner to India Christopher Cooter has said Ottawa is confident of finalising the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) ahead of PM Narendra Modi's visit to Canada next month.While the agreement will still have to be ratified, the announcement about successful conclusion of the negotiations during Modi's Dec 11-12 visit will mark a milestone in the relationship, capping the dramatic turnaround in India-Canada ties under Canadian PM Mark Carney and Modi in the past 18 months."The actual ratification would take some time because we have provincial governments that are involved as well. But I think we can be pretty confident that the final text will be there," said Cooter in an interaction with TOI editors."We're hopeful about our ratification process. The 6th round of talks is coming up.
Also covering this story
One other newsroom covered this event. We read that version too.
Get smarter about the news
Sign up free for a feed built around what you actually care about, Dive Deeper research on any story, and the full text of every article.
Create free accountAlready have an account? Sign in