Prime Minister Mark Carney and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi have agreed to launch negotiations for a comprehensive trade deal, marking a diplomatic reset fueled by Saskatchewan’s continued commercial engagement during two years of strained relations.
The leaders met at the G20 summit in Johannesburg on Sunday and formally launched negotiations for a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement, reviving talks that began in 2010 but that Canada suspended in 2023 after alleging India orchestrated the killing of a Canadian Sikh activist.
Saskatchewan accounts for roughly 40% of Canada’s total exports to India, making the Prairie province critical to bilateral trade. India became Saskatchewan’s third-largest export market in 2024.
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“The two leaders agreed to formally launch negotiations for a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement,” Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand told The Canadian Press at the G20 summit. Both countries aim to double bilateral trade by 2030, with targets ranging from $50 billion to $70 billion, up from approximately $13 billion in 2024.
Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe maintained trade missions to India during the diplomatic rupture, meeting with senior members of Modi’s cabinet in February 2024. The province shipped $480 million in pea exports to India in 2024, though growers face a 30% tariff that officials are working to remove. Saskatchewan farmers produced 1.53 million tonnes of peas last year, accounting for 51% of Canada’s total production.
Saskatchewan’s 2024 exports also included record potash volumes of 22.8 million metric tonnes and uranium exports that increased 50% to reach $2.8 billion.
Canada and India are finalizing a uranium supply agreement worth $2.8 billion over 10 years. Canada’s Cameco Corp would supply the uranium as part of broader nuclear cooperation.
Read: $2.8B uranium deal thaws Canada-India frozen nuclear trade relations
Carney expressed confidence that India is a reliable trading partner despite occasional disputes and emphasized that both countries are maintaining a security dialogue. The Carney government has pledged to double non-US exports over the next decade to diversify trade away from an increasingly protectionist United States.
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