Canada's trade minister Maninder Sidhu to visit India for CII Partnership Summit

Canada's Minister of International Trade, Maninder Sidhu, will visit India to participate in the CII Partnership Summit 2026. According to a report by the Hindustan Times, Sidhu will arrive in Hyderabad on Thursday and subsequently attend the summit to be held in Visakhapatnam. The summit is being chaired by Union Minister of Commerce and Industry Piyush Goyal, while Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu is serving as the host chair.

Canada's trade department stated in a post on X on Tuesday, "Minister Sidhu is in India this week to further strengthen India-Canada trade and investment ties and to continue efforts to complete an ambitious CEPA." This visit is particularly significant as it takes place before the commencement of the next round of talks towards the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA).

This will be the third visit to India for Maninder Sidhu in the last three months. Previously, in October, he visited India as the head of the 'Team Canada Trade Mission' and also visited Mumbai in the same month. On both occasions, he held bilateral meetings with Piyush Goyal, focusing on advancing the CEPA negotiations. Sidhu made his first visit to India in November last year, during which he participated in the CII Partnership Summit.

Currently, these negotiations are in the final stages after five rounds have been completed. A meeting of negotiators is expected to take place in Ottawa next week. If some issues remain pending, a second meeting may be held by the end of November. The initiation of this free trade agreement took place a year ago during the meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Mark Carney at the G20 Leaders' Summit in Johannesburg. It was formally launched following Carney's visit to New Delhi in March and a bilateral meeting with Modi.

It is likely that the successful completion of these negotiations will be announced during Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Canada in December. This timeline was reiterated in May when Mark Carney met with Piyush Goyal. Completing this agreement with India is a priority for Ottawa, as Canada seeks to diversify its trade by reducing its dependence on the United States.