Canada PM Carney's India Visit: Uranium Deal, Critical Minerals MoU, and CEPA Launch
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.
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).
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.
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."