India, Canada launch free trade talks

SEOUL - India and Canada Friday launched talks for a comprehensive economic partnership pact, another step towards furthering their trade and business ties after inking a nuclear deal earlier this year.

The decision was taken at a meeting between Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and his Canadian counterpart Stephen Harper on the margins of the G20 Summit here.

It was on the sidelines of the previous G20 meet in Toronto in June that the two countries signed a civilian nuclear deal, marking the reversal of Canada’s strong stand against India’s nuclear tests in 1974 and 1998.

“Canada’s vibrant, one million strong, Indo-Canadian community helps promote trade and investment between our two countries,” Harper said.

“These people-to-people ties can only be enhanced by a new Canada-India agreement on trade,” he added in a statement issued after his meeting with Manmohan Singh.

The two sides said the new economic pact can boost their bilateral trade to $6 billion from around $4.5 billion now.

(Arvind Padmanabhan can be reached at arvind.p@ians.in)