6th India-Canada Ministerial Dialogue on Trade and Investment | 15 May 2023

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.

Source: PIB