India and Canada are back to talking about deals, not disputes. Prime Minister Narendra Modi will travel to Canada in December, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney's office said after the two leaders spoke on Tuesday. A day later, on Wednesday, October 14, Canadian Foreign Minister Anita Anand was in New Delhi meeting both PM Modi and External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, with a long-pending trade agreement at the top of the agenda.
The Modi-Carney call
PM Modi described Tuesday's conversation as "warm and productive". He said the two leaders agreed to build on the "positive momentum" in ties and to work towards "concrete outcomes across key areas of our strategic partnership", naming trade, energy, technology, security and people-to-people links.
Carney's office said Modi is set to visit Canada in December and that both leaders are committed to concluding the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) at the earliest opportunity. The two sides also backed the goal of doubling two-way trade by 2030, with Canada pointing to a target of about 70 billion Canadian dollars a year. Exact dates and the itinerary for the visit have not yet been announced.
Anand in Delhi: meetings with Modi and Jaishankar
Anand, on a working visit to India, held talks with Jaishankar on Wednesday. According to the Ministry of External Affairs, the two ministers welcomed progress towards an early conclusion of CEPA negotiations and stressed the need to keep up the pace of high-level contact and turn it into tangible results. Their discussions covered security and defence, energy, the economic partnership, education, science and technology, people-to-people ties, multilateral cooperation and regional and global developments.
She later called on PM Modi, who said they had a productive discussion on strengthening ties in trade, technology and energy. Anand, for her part, wrote that "Canada and India have enormous potential to shape a more prosperous future, together."
Where the trade deal stands
The two countries signed the terms of reference for a fresh CEPA on March 2, 2026, during Carney's visit to India. Since then, negotiators have moved quickly. The fifth round of talks was held in Ottawa earlier this month, and MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said both sides remain committed to a "mutually beneficial" agreement. Both governments hope to wrap up the text by December, which would make the Prime Minister's visit a natural moment to announce it.
Canada's Trade Minister Maninder Sidhu is also in India, leading a large Team Canada trade mission of around 300 representatives, a sign of how seriously Ottawa is treating the economic reset.
| Modi-Carney phone call | Tuesday, October 13, 2026 |
| Anand meets Modi, Jaishankar | Wednesday, October 14, New Delhi |
| PM Modi's Canada visit | December 2026 (dates to be announced) |
| CEPA terms of reference signed | March 2, 2026 |
| Latest negotiating round | Fifth round, Ottawa, October 2026 |
| Trade goal | Double two-way trade by 2030 (about C$70 billion) |
| Trade mission | About 300 members, led by Maninder Sidhu |
From freeze to thaw
The visit would be PM Modi's first bilateral trip to Canada since relations nosedived in 2023 over the killing of Khalistani separatist Hardeep Singh Nijjar, a row that saw diplomats expelled and trade talks put on ice. The thaw began after Carney took office. He invited Modi to the G7 summit in Canada in June 2025, and the two sides gradually restored diplomatic engagement before Carney's own India visit this year.
Security cooperation has been part of the reset too. National Security Adviser Ajit Doval and his Canadian counterpart David Morrison recently reviewed progress under a Security Work Plan agreed in February, and the two sides committed to closer coordination against organised crime, terrorism, violent extremism, trafficking, cybercrime and extortion, and on extradition.
Why it matters for India
Canada is home to one of the largest Indian diaspora communities in the world, and hundreds of thousands of Indian students study there. Stable ties mean smoother visas, consular services and fewer anxieties for families with relatives in Canada. On the economic side, a CEPA could cut tariffs for Indian exporters of textiles, engineering goods and processed food, while India gets easier access to Canadian pulses, energy and critical minerals. Canadian pension funds are already among the bigger long-term investors in Indian infrastructure, and a trade deal would add confidence.
The timing also matters. With talks on an India-US trade agreement still being finalised and global trade rules in flux, New Delhi is spreading its bets across partners such as the UK, the EU and now Canada.
What happens next
Negotiators will try to close the remaining gaps in the CEPA text over the next few weeks. Even if a deal is announced in December, it will still need legal scrubbing and domestic approvals in both countries before it takes effect. Dates for PM Modi's visit are expected to be confirmed closer to the time.
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