India, Canada to skip sensitive sectors in trade talks: Piyush Goyal

New Delhi: India and Canada have decided to focus on areas of convergence and avoid seeking concessions in sensitive sectors in the negotiations for the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA), said commerce and industry minister Piyush Goyal, winding up his three-day visit to the country.

The two sides aim to conclude the CEPA negotiations by year-end and have set a target to increase bilateral trade from the current $17 billion to $50 billion by 2030.

“When I was talking to Mr Maninder Sidhu (Canada’s trade minister) about speeding up CEPA negotiations, one of the first elementary decisions we both took was that we won’t make perfect the enemy of the good,” Goyal said while addressing the Ontario Centre of Innovation.

The third round of CEPA negotiations is underway in Ottawa. “Let’s capture the low-hanging fruit, look at areas of convergence, leave the sensitive things out of the agreement. If something is sensitive for Canada, no sense in trying to egg on and trying to get that into the CEPA. Likewise, if something is sensitive for India… no sense we break our heads trying to navigate that path,” he said.

Goyal met government representatives, businesses, investment companies, pension funds, and insurance companies during his visit from May 25-28.