India and Canada could complete an investment protection pact before the end of this year, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced on Tuesday at an event in Toronto.Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman at a reception in Toronto on Tuesday evening. (HT Photo)Sitharaman, who was on the first day of her three-day visit to Toronto, Canada’s financial capital, said that the two countries will “try to finish the investor protection agreement by the end of this year.” A group of negotiators has accompanied the minister on her trip to Canada, her first in 10 years and first as Finance Minister. She said the timeline will depend on her Canadian counterpart, Minister of Finance and National Revenue François-Philippe Champagne, agreeing to the schedule.The two Finance Ministers will launch the inaugural Economic and Financial Dialogue in Toronto on Thursday. In fact, while announcing the counter-tariffs on Tuesday, Champagne had said that he would host Sitharaman.Sitharaman was addressing a gathering of leading members of the corporate and professional world at a reception organised by the Consulate General of India in Toronto.While she did not specifically refer to it, that time frame will coordinate with the one for the signing of the comprehensive economic partnership agreement (CEPA). Negotiations towards that pact are in progress and Prime Ministers Narendra Modi and Mark Carney have set a deadline for the end of this year for the agreement to be clinched. The Indian PM is expected to travel to Canada in December to preside over the signing of the CEPA along with Carney.Sitharaman said that since the template adopted in 2016, the government has “moved ahead in having a very open-minded, progressive approach towards investment protection.” She stressed that “financial investment protection” was a “very important subject” for New Delhi.Sitharaman was joined by senior finance ministry officials including Chief Economic Advisor V Anantha Nageswaran.She also referred to the renewal in bilateral ties since Carney assumed charge as Canada’s PM in March 2025. “India-Canada bilateral relations have seen a remarkable transformation in recent times, underpinned by our shared values of democracy and pluralism and expanding economic engagement and the unprecedented pace of high-level interactions,” she said.“I believe India and Canada are the most natural partners in the world. We are both vibrant democracies rated in the root of law. We share the Commonwealth traditions, a similar parliamentary model and the same language, official language,” she added.She also obliquely referred to the trade uncertainty Canada is facing with the United States, as Ottawa announced retaliatory tariffs on Tuesday morning. She said that at a time “when global capital is looking for trusted partners” to “navigate full economic cycles,” India and Canada have “an opportunity to build a deeper and more diversified financial partnership.”That potential, she said, extended well beyond trade and investment to infrastructure, financial services, fintech, clean energy, innovation, and the broader digital economy.Sitharaman’s engagement in Toronto on Wednesday include discussions with representatives of corporate Canada, organised by the Canada-India Business Council or C-IBC in partnership with the Confederation of Indian Industry.