Canada PM's visit to India built strong foundation for truly renewed partnership: Modi
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney paid an official visit to India from February 27 to March 2, 2026 — the first bilateral visit by a Canadian Prime Minister to India since 2018, and Carney's first overseas bilateral trip as PM.
PM Carney met Prime Minister Narendra Modi for delegation-level talks in New Delhi; both leaders released a Joint Statement and announced a wide-ranging "Next Generation Partnership."
Key deliverables from the visit:
Uranium deal: Cameco Corporation signed a C$2.6 billion (USD 1.9 billion) uranium supply agreement with India's Department of Atomic Energy — 22 million pounds of uranium ore concentrate (U3O8) to be delivered from 2027-2035.
CEPA launch: India and Canada finalised and signed the Terms of Reference (ToR) for a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA), with negotiations to be concluded by end of 2026 and a bilateral trade target of USD 50 billion by 2030 (up from USD 8.66 billion in FY 2024-25).
Critical Minerals MoU: Both nations signed a Memorandum of Understanding on Critical Minerals Cooperation — covering lithium, cobalt, nickel, and rare earth elements essential for clean energy and defence supply chains.
Strategic Energy Partnership: Canada and India announced cooperation on LNG, LPG, solar, hydrogen, and uranium supply chains.
Additional MoUs: Five MoUs signed covering technology and AI, talent and culture, defence cooperation, and renewable energy.
UPI linkage and defence dialogue were also announced.
PM Modi stated the visit "built a strong foundation for a truly renewed partnership" — signalling a reset after years of diplomatic strains following the Nijjar affair (2023).
PM Carney described the partnership as one marked by "new ambition, focus, and foresight."
Canada pledged to be a "reliable and stable partner" for critical minerals and uranium.
India-Canada Relations: History of a Strained Partnership
India and Canada share deep historical and people-to-people ties, but the bilateral relationship has experienced repeated turbulence over the past five decades.
Key Details
- Canada assisted India's early nuclear programme (CIRUS reactor, Rajasthan reactors) under the Colombo Plan in the 1960s-70s; nuclear cooperation was frozen after India's 1974 Pokhran-I test.
- Relations were damaged by Canada's role in the Khalistan issue — Canadian Sikhs involved in the 1985 Air India bombing (Kanishka disaster) operated from Canadian soil.
- Relations improved in the 2000s-2010s: Nuclear Cooperation Agreement signed in 2010; bilateral trade expanded.
- 2023: Relations plummeted after Canadian PM Justin Trudeau accused India of involvement in the killing of Hardeep Singh Nijjar (a designated terrorist in India, a Sikh leader in Canada) in Surrey, BC — India denied the allegations and expelled each other's diplomats.
- 2025-26: New Canadian PM Mark Carney sought to reset the relationship; India reciprocated given shared economic interests and the geopolitical context (US tariff pressures, China supply chain concerns).
- The Indian diaspora in Canada is the largest Indian community in any Western country (~1.8 million), creating strong people-to-people connectivity.
Carney's India visit and the landmark agreements signed represent a diplomatic reset, with both sides choosing economic pragmatism over bilateral grievances — driven partly by the new geopolitical environment (US tariff uncertainty and need for supply chain diversification).
Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreements (CEPAs): India's Trade Architecture
A CEPA is a comprehensive trade agreement covering goods, services, investments, intellectual property, and other areas of economic cooperation — broader than a standard Free Trade Agreement (FTA).
Key Details
- India has signed CEPAs with UAE (effective May 2022), Australia (interim, effective April 2022), and is negotiating with the UK, EU, Canada, GCC, and others.
- The UAE CEPA was India's first CEPA in a decade, signed in a record 88 days; it set a target of USD 100 billion bilateral trade.
- India's CEPA negotiations with Canada were originally launched in 2010 as FIPA (Foreign Investment Promotion and Protection Agreement) and then CETA-parallel talks — they stalled in 2017.
- Current bilateral trade: USD 8.66 billion (FY 2024-25); target: USD 50 billion by 2030 — a nearly 6x increase.
- India's top CEPA interests with Canada: market access for pharmaceuticals, IT services, textiles, gems and jewellery, and Indian labour mobility.
- Canada's interests: market access for canola oil, agricultural products, gold and uranium, and Canadian financial services.
- The Terms of Reference (ToR) define the scope, structure, and negotiating principles of a CEPA — signing of ToR marks formal launch of negotiations.
The signing of the CEPA ToR during Carney's visit marks the formal restart of trade negotiations after an 8-year gap. The USD 50 billion trade target is ambitious and will require significant tariff reduction and regulatory harmonisation on both sides.
Critical Minerals: The New Frontier of Geopolitics
Critical minerals — including lithium, cobalt, nickel, rare earth elements, copper, and uranium — are essential inputs for clean energy technologies, defence systems, semiconductors, and digital infrastructure. Control over their supply chains has become a major dimension of 21st-century geopolitics.
Key Details
- India launched a National Critical Mineral Mission in February 2024, identifying 30 critical minerals for strategic priority.
- India has domestic reserves of some critical minerals (graphite, titanium, manganese) but is highly import-dependent for lithium, cobalt, and rare earths — most of which are currently sourced from or processed in China.
- Canada is among the world's richest nations in critical minerals — major producer of nickel, cobalt, lithium, uranium, and rare earths; its Ring of Fire region in Ontario holds vast untapped reserves.
- The India-Canada Critical Minerals MoU follows similar agreements India has signed with Australia, Argentina, and the US as part of supply chain diversification.
- The Minerals Security Partnership (MSP) — a US-led alliance of 14 countries (including India and Canada) — aims to collectively diversify global critical mineral supply chains away from Chinese dominance.
- China controls ~80% of global rare earth processing and significant shares of cobalt and lithium processing — reducing this dependence is a strategic imperative for India, Canada, and their partners.
The India-Canada Critical Minerals MoU is a strategic complement to the uranium deal — together they create an energy and resource security architecture that diversifies India's supply base while giving Canada a major emerging market partner.
- Carney's India visit: February 27 – March 2, 2026 (first Canadian PM visit to India since 2018).
- Uranium deal: C$2.6 billion (USD 1.9 billion), 22 million lbs U3O8, 2027-2035.
- Cameco: World's largest publicly traded uranium producer; headquartered in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan.
- Bilateral trade (FY 2024-25): USD 8.66 billion (India exports: USD 4.22 billion; imports: USD 4.44 billion).
- CEPA target: USD 50 billion by 2030; Canada's target for its negotiations is USD 70 billion.
- Previous CEPA restarts: Negotiations first launched in 2010, stalled in 2017 after 13 rounds.
- India's diaspora in Canada: ~1.8 million (largest Indian diaspora in any Western country).
- Nijjar affair (2023): Triggered worst diplomatic crisis in India-Canada relations; India designated Nijjar a terrorist in 2020.
- India's Nuclear Energy Mission target: 100 GW by 2047 (announced Budget 2025-26).
- India-Canada Nuclear Cooperation Agreement: Signed 2010; first Cameco-India deal: 2015.
- MoUs signed: 5 MoUs covering critical minerals, renewable energy, AI/technology, talent, and defence dialogue.
- Joint Statement: Released March 2, 2026; announced "Next Generation Partnership."