Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney will visit India on February 26; trade deals, defense deals in focus | India News

New Delhi: Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney will visit India from February 26, according to an official statement from Carney’s office.“Prime Minister Kani will first visit Mumbai, India, and then New Delhi, where he will meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The two leaders will focus on elevating and expanding Canada’s relationship with India, establishing ambitious new partnerships in the areas of trade, energy, technology and artificial intelligence (AI), talent and culture, and defence. He will meet with business leaders to identify investment opportunities in Canada and forge new partnerships between businesses in both countries,” the statement read.The report further said that Canada’s new government is focused on controlling what to do in a “more divided and uncertain world” and deepening regional relations by visiting its strongest Indo-Pacific partners such as India, Australia and Japan.According to Canadian media reports, Indian High Commissioner to Canada Dinesh Patnaik, speaking before the visit, said that despite delays in earlier negotiations, he hoped that India and Canada could finalize a comprehensive trade agreement within a year.It will be Carney’s first visit to India since Justin Trudeau took office, and there are signs of improving ties.In 2024, India was Canada’s seventh largest trading partner in goods and services, with total bilateral trade reaching US$30.8 billion. At last year’s G20 leaders’ summit, Canada and India agreed to formally begin negotiations on an ambitious Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA). The proposed deal aims to help more than double bilateral trade to $70 billion by 2030.