India’s new envoy wants large-scale trade deal with Canada as ties thaw – National

of India Canada’s new envoy says Ottawa should move away from seeking a reduced trade deal and instead reach a comprehensive trade and investment deal with the world’s most populous country.

In a wide-ranging interview with The Canadian Press, Indian High Commissioner Dinesh Patnaik also said Canadian companies should expand trade and investment ties with India now, without waiting for governments to sign a formal trade agreement.

“We are more interested in a complete package than something with little ambition. We want greater ambition,” he said in an interview on Thursday.

“A trade deal is something we shouldn’t wait for. We should start getting everything we can, the early gains.”

Canada and India have been in trade negotiations since 2010. Those negotiations have been paused and restarted more than once, and were shut down entirely by Ottawa in 2023, after the federal government accused New Delhi of playing a role in the killing of a Canadian Sikh activist in Surrey, B.C.

The Carney government has made it a priority to restore relations with India, including a visit earlier this month by Foreign Minister Anita Anand to India, where both countries released a joint statement titled “Renewing Momentum Towards a Stronger Partnership.” The statement mentions the trade several times.

The statement was a major shift in tone from the previous year, when Canada expelled six senior Indian diplomats after the RCMP alleged that New Delhi was behind large-scale murder, extortion and coercion in Canada. In the fall of 2023, India withdrew diplomatic protection from most Canadian envoys.

Patnaik said that despite “slight hiccups” in diplomatic relations in recent years, “trade has not slowed down”.

“But look at it another way, trade has never reached the heights it should be, between a G7 country and the world’s fourth economy,” he added.

Before the diplomatic lull began in 2023, Canada and India had already scaled back their ambitions for trade talks, moving from seeking a global economy-wide deal to a deal limited to specific industries.

Trade talks that began in 2010 involved a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement, but in 2023 negotiations intensified towards an Early Progress Trade Agreement, which could have stood on its own or led to a later, comprehensive agreement. Neither country formally stated which sectors were on the table.

India has signed both types of agreement with different countries. For example, Australia signed such a limited agreement in 2022 that included sectors such as coal, lentils and rare earths, with talk of possibly starting talks for a broader agreement.

Patnaik said India wants to “engage across sectors” with Canada through an agreement that goes beyond trade in specific goods such as Canadian lentils and Indian textiles.

He said a trade pact would yield huge economic benefits if it included service sectors such as education and cultural fields such as cinema.

“It’s time for us to look at things from a different perspective,” he said.

“I don’t want to reduce trade to just buying and selling, but to this broader economic framework where we have investments, where we have collaborations in human resources, scientific research, innovation, high technology, everything.”

Both Canada and India are working to diversify their trade away from an increasingly erratic United States. US President Donald Trump hit Canada with tariffs he linked to the tiny flow of fentanyl across the border and imposed 50 percent tariffs on Indian goods to pressure New Delhi to stop buying Russian oil.

But Canada was lagging behind peers in trade with India even before Trump returned to the White House, Patnaik said.

He noted that since trade talks with Ottawa began in 2010, New Delhi has signed agreements with the United Kingdom, Australia and the United Arab Emirates and is “about to sign one” with the European Union.

“If, probably, the trade talks with Canada weren’t on hold, we probably would have a trade deal with Canada,” he said.

Trend now

• Prince Andrew renounces royal titles, including Duke of York

• Canadians have visa-free access to more countries than Americans: report

“We’re moving forward with the rest of the world and we don’t want to be less ambitious with Canada.”

India has long been viewed by trade analysts as a protectionist country, with tight control over imports and the reach of foreign companies, along with a focus on domestic manufacturing. The country runs a trade surplus with many Western nations, partly due to the boom in call centers and outsourced IT systems.

The country also imposes conditions on trade that have made it difficult for foreign companies, such as the fumigation rules it imposed on Canadian peas and lentils in 2017.

The briefing paper that Canada’s foreign service prepared for Trade Minister Maninder Sidhu when he took the job this spring cited both the benefits and drawbacks of seeking more trade with India.

“India offers significant medium-term opportunities, despite being a challenging market for exporters,” the May briefing paper said.

In that document, Global Affairs Canada accuses India of exerting pressure on the global trade order on which Canada relies, particularly the rules outlined by the World Trade Organization.

“High-stakes negotiations such as agriculture have been stalled for too long. A handful of obstructionist members, led by India, routinely block outcomes negotiated and desired by most members,” the binder says of the WTO.

Patnaik said India will “do whatever it takes to increase trade” with Canada.

“If we can just change the laws and work sector by sector, we can do that too,” he said.

Patnaik also suggested that India wants to move past trade disputes over issues such as spraying and pesticides.

“Basically, trade is opening up, not putting up barriers. No non-tariff barriers, no phytosanitary health issues,” he said.

He also presented his country as a pluralistic democracy that shares values ​​and broad diaspora ties with Canada.

US non-profit Freedom House gives India a 63 percent freedom score, citing concerns over discriminatory policies, religious persecution and harassment of civil society groups under Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. He also says the country is a true multi-party democracy with free and fair elections.

“We are two democracies with complementary economies, open societies, diversity, pluralism, democracy, rule of law, freedom of the press, everything that unites us. That’s why we should be much closer,” Patnaik said.

“Let’s look for ways to have a much more intense, much more strategic, much closer interaction than we have today.”