India and Canada Set $50 Billion Trade Target by 2030, Vow Stronger Ties

On Sunday India and Canada agreed to forge more the ties between the two countries in various fields such as trade, investment and technology; as talks between Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, and his Canadian counterpart Mark Carney, aimed to ensure further improvement in the relationship between the two countries, occurred in the sidelines of the G20 Summit in Johannesburg.

Modi said that the two parties had a target of USD 50 billion of bilateral trade by 2030. It now has a figure of about $30 billion.

India and Italy also settled on a shared programme of fighting terror financing in another notable move, as talks between Modi and PM Giorgia Meloni.

“We appreciated the significant momentum in our bilateral ties since our earlier meeting held during the G7 Summit hosted by Canada. We agreed to further advance our relations in the coming months, particularly in trade, investment, technology and innovation, energy and education,” he said after meeting Carney. India and Canada have enormous potential to enhance trade and investment connections and Modi indicated that Canadian Pension Funds are also developing interest in Indian enterprises.

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“We also agreed to unlock the potential for deeper cooperation in defence and space sectors and meet again in the near future,” Modi said. The encounter followed one day after India, Australia and Canada declared a trilateral technology and innovation cooperation during the margins of the Summit. The joint venture is also another indication of the rebound of the relations between India and Canada since Carney assumed power as PM this year.

The ministry of external affairs on Sunday welcomed the adoption of Australia-Canada-India Technology and Innovative (ACITI) partnership by the two leaders.

Modi also had talks with Italian PM Giorgia Meloni during which the discussions were centered on the further development of cooperation in the field of such spheres as trade and investment, defence, innovation and AI, space and education.

“The India-Italy Strategic Partnership is growing from strength to strength, greatly benefitting the people of our nations. India and Italy are announcing a joint initiative for cooperation in combating financing of terrorism. This is a necessary and timely effort, which will strengthen humanity’s fight against terrorism and its support networks,” Modi said.

“Prime Minister Meloni expressed solidarity with India on the terror incident in Delhi and reiterated Italy’s strong commitment to work together to combat the scourge of terrorism. In this context, both leaders adopted the ‘India-Italy Joint Initiative to Counter Financing of Terrorism’. The initiative aims to deepen bilateral cooperation on countering terrorism and collaboration in global and multilateral platforms including the Financial Action Task Force( FATF) and the Global Counter terrorism Forum (GCTF),” the MEA said.

Modi also had a meeting with Japanese PM Sanae Takaichi wherein they talked on how to give impetus to bilateral collaboration in the realms of innovation, defence and talent mobility. “We are also looking to enhance trade ties between our nations. A strong India-Japan partnership is vital for a better planet,” Modi said.

The two leaders shared a consensus to collaborate on strategic areas such as defence, AI, semiconductors, critical minerals, technology and innovation, the MEA said, and adding, "the India-Japan Special Strategic and Global Partnership is anchored in our shared values, mutual trust and goodwill.”

India and South Africa concurred to provide the global south a voice in discussions that happened between Modi and South African President Cyril Ramaphosa during the sidelines of the Summit.

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The two leaders considered bilateral relationships and were delighted with the gains recorded in the different areas of collaboration such as trade and investment, food security, skills, mining, youth exchange, and people to people relationship.

“They discussed ways to enhance cooperation in the fields of AI, Digital Public Infrastructure and critical minerals,” the MEA said. The leaders further welcomed the increasing role of Indian companies in South Africa and accepted to support each other in terms of investments particularly in infrastructure, technology, innovations, mining and start-ups, it added.

“We reviewed the full range of the India-South Africa partnership, especially in boosting linkages of commerce, culture, investment and diversifying cooperation in technology, skilling, AI, critical minerals and more,” the PM said.

Modi commended Ramaphosa on a successful operation of the Summit and the South African G20 to proceed and develop a decision achieved in the 2023 New Delhi G20 Summit.

The priorities of India including campaign against terrorism and enhanced funding to tackle the climate crisis and measures to address the concerns of the Global South resonated in the declaration that was made on Saturday at the G 20 Summit in South Africa amid US boycott of the meeting.

A number of outcomes in the G20 South Africa Summit: Leaders Declaration were based on initiatives that India pursues as the G20 president in 2023, such as a fresh commitment to the problems of the Global South. The declaration was unanimously passed at the beginning of negotiations in Johannesburg as opposed to the customary way of passing a declaration at the culmination of the summit.

Being South African, the presidency had prioritised four areas with the summit namely, debt sustainability of the low-income countries, mobilising finance for the just energy transition, enhancing disaster resilience and response, and exploiting critical minerals as the means to inclusive growth and sustainable development.

On Saturday, Modi met with the managing director of the international monetary fund Kristalina Georgieva and world trade organisational director general Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala.

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