Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal will visit Canada in May. This visit will take place amid the ongoing negotiations for a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between the two countries. On March 2, the two countries began negotiations for a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA). The issue of Goyal’s visit came up during his meeting with Canada’s International Trade Minister Maninder Sidhu on the sidelines of the 14th World Trade Organization (WTO) Ministerial Conference in Yaoundé, Cameroon. The main focus of bilateral discussions is to rapidly advance the recently started India-Canada CEPA talks. The Commerce Ministry said in a statement that (Maninder) Sidhu warmly welcomed Goyal for his upcoming visit to Canada in May 2026, in which he will lead a large Indian business delegation.
There will be talk on these sectors
The ministry said India also supported Canada’s proposal to send a trade delegation to India covering high-tech sectors like aerospace, defense and space. The ministry further said that underscoring the importance of the clean energy transition, the two ministers agreed to explore possibilities of cooperation in nuclear energy and other important sectors including agriculture and critical minerals. During the meeting between Goyal and UK Secretary of State for Trade and Commerce Peter J Kyle, both sides discussed the issue of implementation of the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA). This agreement was signed on July 24, 2025. India has completed all internal approvals and ratification processes for the India-UK agreement. Kyle also told that Britain has also completed the process of parliamentary approval for this agreement.
Both countries are waiting for this
The ministry said that both sides are eagerly waiting for the implementation of India-UK CETA as per the agreed timeline. The ministry further said that as part of efforts to enhance the utilization of this agreement by relevant stakeholders, Goyal stressed the importance of ‘outreach plans’ to ensure that the benefits of CETA reach businesses located in every corner of India. Additionally, in the meeting between Goyal and European Union (EU) Trade Commissioner Maros Sefcovic, the two reviewed the ongoing progress towards the signing of the recently concluded India-EU Free Trade Agreement (FTA).
Same thing with New Zealand
Both agreed that both sides should make efforts to complete the necessary processes that could facilitate the early signing of the India-EU FTA. The Indian Minister also held bilateral discussions with Todd Michael McLay, Trade and Investment Minister of New Zealand, during WTO MC14. Both the ministers briefly reviewed the preparations for Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s upcoming visit to New Zealand. New Zealand expressed great enthusiasm for the visit and confirmed that a detailed list of ‘deliverables’ for the visit is being finalized by both sides.