Canadian foreign minister to visit India in mid-October as trade talks gain pace

Canadian foreign minister Anita Anand is expected to visit India in mid-October as part of ramped-up contacts between the two countries that are racing to conclude negotiations on a trade deal by the year-end, people familiar with the matter said.

New Delhi and Ottawa hope to finalise their negotiations for a comprehensive economic partnership agreement (CEPA) ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's planned visit to Canada in December. Anand is expected to be in India during October 12-15, though the visit is yet to be formally announced by both sides, the people said on condition of anonymity.

This will be Anand's third visit to India since she became foreign minister in May 2025 - she travelled to the country in October 2025 and again in March this year, when she accompanied Prime Minister Mark Carney on a trip. Her visit will also coincide with a trip by Canada's trade minister Maninder Sidhu, his second trip in less than a month, to take forward the trade talks.

While in New Delhi, Anand is expected to hold talks with external affairs minister S Jaishankar to take stock of progress in implementing a roadmap for bilateral relations that was finalised during her last visit in October 2025, and preparations for Modi's visit to Canada, the people said. The roadmap sets out shared objectives in trade, security, defence, energy, mobility and innovation.

Anand is also set to speak at the Bloomberg New Economy Forum in New Delhi, the people said.

Sidhu and Anand are set to travel to India after the fifth round of negotiations on the trade deal in Canada in early October.

The trade talks between India and Canada have gained momentum at a time when both countries are coping with fresh tensions in their economic ties with the US. The Trump administration recently banned Canadian imports worth almost $1 billion, including alcoholic beverages and dairy products, after imposing 50% tariffs on other imports worth $20 billion. The Indian side has raised with the US its concerns over a new Russia sanctions law that threatens 100% tariffs on Indian goods.

HT reported earlier that most of the key issues related to the proposed India-Canada trade deal have been resolved by bureaucrats, and frequent political interventions are now required to iron out contentious matters that require ministerial authority.

The flurry of high-level visits reflects the improvement in overall bilateral ties, which had fallen to their lowest level in decades after former Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau accused Indian government agents of involvement in the 2023 killing of Khalistani separatist Hardeep Singh Nijjar. India dismissed the allegation and both sides resorted to a number of punitive actions.

Relations improved rapidly after Carney's election in 2025, with both sides working together to bolster cooperation in areas such as trade, supply chains and critical minerals, while handling security-related concerns in a discreet manner.

Anand and Jaishankar also met recently on the margins of the UN General Assembly, when she reaffirmed India's status as a "key partner" for Canada in view of its role as one of the world's fast-growing and most dynamic economies.

Jaishankar said they had a "productive discussion as we prepare to take the relationship to a higher level".