Next round of India-Canada talks on trade agreement likely in April

The next round of negotiations for the proposed interim trade agreement (FTA) between India and Canada is expected to be held in April, a senior commerce ministry official said on Wednesday.

Krishan Kumar, Joint Secretary in the department of commerce, said negotiations are at an advanced stage in goods and services, and in other areas.
"Six rounds have completed. The seventh round may be held in April," he told reporters here.

In March last year, the two countries re-launched negotiations for an interim agreement, officially dubbed as an early progress trade agreement (EPTA).

Apart from traditional areas, the agreement may cover areas like SMEs, trade and gender, environment and labour.

"We have already exchanged goods offer and discussions are starting to improve the services offer," he said.

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Briefing reporters, Commerce Secretary Sunil Barthwal said that talks for a free trade agreement with the UK and European Union are moving in a progressive direction.

India and the UK launched negotiations for the FTA in January last year.

On the progress on the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF) talks, it was informed that productive and constructive text-based discussions held under IPEF pillars supply chain, clean economy and fair economy during the special round held here in February.

The Indian delegation at present is participating in the second round of negotiations being held in Bali from March 13-19.

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