Renewed efforts on boosting bilateral trade-investments

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, paid a State Visit to India from 18 to 24 February 2018 at the invitation of the Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi.

The two leaders held talks in New Delhi on 23 Feb 2018 and agreed on a series of initiatives. The highlights of these initiatives between the two countries are:

Investing in Mutual Growth

To continue strengthening the government-to-government framework for cooperative economic engagements, the prime ministers welcomed the conclusion of, and progress on, cooperation agreements/MoUs in areas such as civil nuclear science and technology, education, audio-visual co-production, information technology, intellectual property and sports.

To realize the full potential of bilateral trade and investment, both sides will renew efforts to expand and diversify bilateral economic and commercial relations.

They will also intensify negotiations to finalize a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement and a Bilateral Foreign Investment Promotion and Protection Agreement.

To encourage the private sectors to further explore investment opportunities in both countries, including through India’s flagship programmes such as Make in India, Start-Up India, Digital India and Smart Cities, as well as Canadian programs such as the Innovation and Skills Plan, the Canadian Technology Accelerators, the Start-Up VISA Program and the Global Skills Strategy.

The leaders welcomed the signing of commercial agreements which will create new economic opportunities and jobs in both countries. They applauded the launch of the Canada-India Accelerator Program for Women Tech Entrepreneurs, as well as the decision to convene a Canada-India Track 1.5 Dialogue on Innovation, Growth and Prosperity.

The prime ministers emphasized the importance of ensuring access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food for all, and noted that transparency and predictability of market access conditions, including sharing of information on production of agricultural commodities, are key in advancing the food security goals of both countries.

India and Canada will work closely together to finalize an arrangement within 2018 to enable the export of Canadian pulses to India free from pests of quarantine importance, with mutually acceptable technological protocols.

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency will continue to work closely with the Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority to facilitate access for Indian organic products.

Climate Change, Oceans, Space and Clean Energy

To strengthen bilateral and international cooperation to address climate change and secure a clean energy future, they committed to promoting the implementation of the Paris Agreement.

The leaders welcomed the initiative to establish the International Solar Alliance to promote renewable energy for sustainable development. They urged research institutions and industry in both countries to collaborate to promote greater use of solar technology.

The leaders underscored the importance of accelerating the global transition to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy sources and acknowledged that renewable energy is a pathway to a low-carbon and more sustainable energy system.

In this regard, they agreed to work together to explore opportunities to use innovative financing mechanisms. They also agreed to the importance of providing clear and predictable signals for long–term investment and innovation in clean technologies and working at the global level to ensure universal access to affordable, reliable and modern energy services consistent with the Sustainable Development Goals.

The leaders agreed to expand the scope of the Canada-India Ministerial Energy Dialogue to additionally include electricity, energy efficiency and renewables, and agreed to hold the fourth meeting of the Ministerial Energy Dialogue in Canada in 2018.

The leaders welcomed the continuation of uranium exports from Canada for peaceful use of civil nuclear power. The leaders agreed to expand the ongoing mutually-beneficial civil nuclear cooperation by developing collaboration in nuclear science and technology.

They welcomed the signing of an Agreement between the Department of Atomic Energy and the Department of Natural Resources Canada.

To enhance geo-spatial collaboration and to consider Indian participation in Canadian Arctic research. The prime ministers also expressed satisfaction at the expansion of India-Canada space cooperation, including the launch of Canadian satellites.

To develop bilateral defence cooperation by exploring cooperation possibilities in diverse fields including cold climate training, enhancing naval interactions, and staff exchanges.

The leaders agreed that Canada and India would coordinate on cyber security and addressing cyber crimes at bilateral and multilateral forums going forward.

The prime ministers also resolved to facilitate the movement of highly skilled persons from India to Canada under the Global Skills Strategy, to fully harness the complementarity between their technological capabilities and human resources.

-/fii-news.com