Evian (France), June 16 (IANS) Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney on Tuesday said that both countries continue to make a “very good progress” on concluding a long-pending Free Trade Agreement (FTA) by the end of this year while sharply expanding trade, investment and business cooperation.

“Four continents, four meetings, one year. And right from the start, at the G7 in Kananaskis in Canada, and thank you for honouring us with that visit. Right from the start, you’ve set a high bar for the relationship and what we can do together. I’m very pleased and very honoured by your reception of me a few months ago. Of course, I’d be honoured to reciprocate a visit to Canada. We are making very good progress,” Carney said as he met Prime Minister Narendra Modi for a bilateral meeting on the sidelines of the G7 Summit in France.

India and Canada have signalled a rapid reset in bilateral ties, with leaders from both countries expressing optimism about concluding the FTA soon.

“His Excellency likes a deadline. I like one as well. And our deadline is to complete by the G20. Our teams are aware of that and what we’re discovering in the negotiations, but also with the exchanges of our universities, cultural exchanges of our businesses, including the largest trade delegation from India, and a big reciprocal one coming from Canada to India, is that there’s so much more to do together. And it’s just one objective, which you’ve set, is to double our trade by the end of this decade. We think we can do more and with this partnership,” he added.

Last month, Carney had said that negotiations on the FTA with India would be a “game changer” for Canadian workers and businesses.

“We’re negotiating a free trade deal with India. This will be a game changer for Canadian workers and businesses — unlocking a massive new market,” Carney wrote on social media after meeting Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal in Ottawa.

Carney said both sides reviewed progress in negotiations and explored opportunities in “energy, agri-food, tech, and education”.

Goyal led what Canadian officials described as the “largest-ever” Indian business delegation to Canada. The minister recalled the Canadian leader’s recent visit to India.

“His recent visit to India has imparted fresh momentum and renewed confidence to India-Canada partnership,” Goyal said.

He said both countries held “forward-looking discussions on further deepening bilateral cooperation” and expressed optimism over an early conclusion of the India-Canada Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA).

In a joint media address in Ottawa, Canada’s International Trade Minister Maninder Sidhu said both countries were moving quickly to conclude the agreement.

“We promised Canadians that we’d be moving fast,” Sidhu said, adding that two rounds of negotiations had already been completed. He said Canada wanted to diversify trade ties and unlock “roughly $300 billion of additional non-US exports”.

Goyal described the relationship as “being reset very, very rapidly”.

–IANS

/as