India and Canada have agreed to restart negotiations for a Free Trade Agreement with the aim of increasing two-way trade to $50 billion by 2030, Union Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal said, according to PTI.

His remarks came a day after Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney held a bilateral meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Johannesburg.

Canada had paused talks on a broad trade pact in 2023 after Justin Trudeau, the country’s prime minister at the time, had accused the Indian government of involvement in the murder of a Canadian citizen and Khalistani separatist Hardeep Singh Nijjar in Surrey, British Columbia. India has denied the allegations.

On Monday, while addressing the Indo-Canadian Business Chamber in New Delhi, Goyal said that a Free Trade Agreement or Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement has many strategic elements to it, and that it is a demonstration of the trust between the two countries, PTI reported.

He also said that the two countries are “natural allies” that do not “compete with each other” but “actually complement each other”.

“The strengths of Canada and the strengths of India together can become a force multiplier for businesses and investors,” The Hindu quoted Goyal as saying. I think the recent meetings that Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Prime...

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