Toronto: India has expressed its readiness to initiate negotiations towards a bilateral investment treaty, according a joint statement issued after the first Economic and Financial Dialogue between the two countries.
The statement was issued following the meeting between India’s Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and her Canadian counterpart Francois-Philippe Champagne met in Toronto on Thursday morning.
It noted that the meeting reflected the “shared commitment” of the two countries to “deepen economic ties, including through enhanced trade and investment, and to deliver tangible outcomes that support economic growth and expand commercial opportunities in both countries”.
They also discussed the mutual benefits of further strengthening bilateral economic and investment ties, to support financial and commercial linkages between India and Canada and support the “shared aspiration” of Prime Ministers Narendra Modi and Mark Carney to expand trade to CA$ 70 billion/ ₹4.65 lakh crore by 2030, through a comprehensive economic partnership agreement or CEPA. Negotiators are in an advanced stage in talks over the pact, which the PMs want concluded by the end of this year.
Sitharaman was in favour of discussions towards the foreign investment protection agreement being concluded at around the same time, as she announced during an event in Toronto.
