6th India-Canada Ministerial Dialogue on Trade and Investment

• 15 May 2023

For Prelims: 6th India-Canada Ministerial Dialogue on Trade and Investment (MDTI), Clean technologies, Parliamentary structure, Information Technology, Biofuels, ANTRIX.

For Mains: Areas of Cooperation Between India and Canada.

Why in News?

Recently, the 6^th India-Canada Ministerial Dialogue on Trade and Investment (MDTI) was held in Ottawa, Canada.

What are the Major Outcomes of the MDTI?

• Support for India as G20 Chair:
  • The Canadian Minister expressed her support for India as the G20 Chair and its priorities in the G20 Trade and Investment Working Group.
    • She expressed her intention to participate in the upcoming G-20 Trade and Investment Ministerial meeting in India scheduled for August 2023.
• Enhanced Cooperation:
  • The Ministers highlighted the importance of cooperation in sectors such as clean technologies for infrastructure development, critical minerals, electric vehicles and batteries, renewable energy/hydrogen, and artificial intelligence (AI).
• Critical Mineral Supply Chain Resiliency:
  • The Ministers emphasised the importance of government-to-government coordination to promote critical mineral supply chain resiliency.
    • They committed to an annual dialogue at the official level during the Prospectors and Developers Association Conference (PDAC) in Toronto to discuss mutual interests.
• Canada-India CEO Forum:
  • The Ministers agreed to rework and relaunch the Canada-India CEO Forum with renewed focus and priorities.
    • The CEO Forum would serve as a platform to enhance business-to-business engagement and could be announced at an agreed-upon early date.
• Trade Mission and Delegation:
  • The Canadian Minister announced her leadership of a Team Canada trade mission to India in October 2023.
    • This mission aims to strengthen trade and investment ties, with a significant business delegation.

What are the Areas of Cooperation Between India and Canada?

• About:
  • India established diplomatic relations with Canada in 1947. India and Canada have a long-standing bilateral relationship based on shared democratic values, the multi-cultural, multi-ethnic and multi religious nature of two societies and strong people-to-people contacts.
• Political:
  • India and Canada share commonalities in Parliamentary structure and procedures.
  • In India, Canada is represented by the High Commission of Canada in New Delhi.
    • Canada also has Consulates General in Bengaluru, Chandigarh and Mumbai, as well as trade offices in Ahmedabad, Chennai, Hyderabad and Kolkata.
• Commerce:
  • India-Canada bilateral trade in goods reached approximately USD 8.2 billion in 2022, showing a 25% growth compared to 2021.
    • The services sector was emphasised as a significant contributor to the bilateral relationship, with bilateral services trade valued at around USD 6.6 billion in 2022.
  • Canadian Pension Funds have cumulatively invested around USD 55 billion in India and are increasingly viewing India as a favourable destination for investments.
  • More than 600 Canadian companies have a presence in India and more than 1,000 companies are actively pursuing business in the Indian market.
    • Indian companies in Canada are active in the field such as Information Technology, software, steel, natural resources and banking sectors.
  • The India-Canada Free Trade Agreement is also under negotiation.
    • An Early Progress Trade Agreement (EPTA) is expected to be signed in 2023 between India and Canada.
      • The agreement will cover a wide range of areas including goods, services, investment, rules of origin, sanitary and phytosanitary measures, technical barriers to trade, and dispute settlement.
• Science and Technology:
  • India’s Atomic Energy Regulatory Board (AERB) signed an Arrangement with the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC) on September 16, 2015 to exchange experiences in nuclear safety and regulatory issues.
  • Indo-Canadian S&T cooperation has been primarily focussed on promoting Industrial R&D which has potential for application through development of new IP, processes, prototypes or products.
    • Canada was a partner country for the Technology Summit held in New Delhi in November 2017.
  • The Department of Earth Science and Polar Canada have started a programme for exchange of knowledge and scientific research on Cold Climate (Arctic) Studies.
  • Under the “Mission Innovation” program, India is collaborating with Canada in various activities in the areas of Sustainable Biofuels (IC4).
  • ANTRIX, the Commercial arm of ISRO, has launched several nanosatellites from Canada.
    • ISRO in its 100^th Satellite PSLV launched on January 12, 2018, also flew Canadian first LEO satellite, from Indian spaceport Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh.
• Education and Culture:
  • The Shastri Indo-Canadian Institute (SICI) is a unique bi-national organisation fostering, since 1968, education and cultural cooperation and collaboration between India and Canada.
  • Canada was the Country of Focus at the 48^th International Film Festival of India held in Goa in November 2017.
  • Canada Post and India Post joined hands to issue a commemorative stamp on Diwali in 2017.
    • Canada Post issued Diwali Stamps again in 2020 and 2021.
  • In October 2020, Canada announced the voluntary repatriation of the ancient Annapurna statue which was illegally acquired by a Canadian collector and had been kept at University of Regina.
    • The statue has since been handed over to India and has been placed inside Kashi Vishwanath temple in Varanasi in November 2021.

UPSC Civil Services Examination, Previous Year Questions (PYQs)

Q. In which one of the following groups are all the four countries members of G20? (2020)

(a) Argentina, Mexico, South Africa and Turkey
(b) Australia, Canada, Malaysia and New Zealand
(c) Brazil, Iran, Saudi Arabia and Vietnam
(d) Indonesia, Japan, Singapore and South Korea

Ans: (a)

Source: PIB