Speaking at the Hindustan Times Leadership Summit 2023, Union minister Piyush Goyal today said Canada's economy will bear the brunt of the suspension of the free-trade talks. He said India's economy will not be affected by the move as it has a huge market and economic opportunities.
Canada and India's bilateral relationship suffered a huge blow last month after the former accused Indian agents of conspiring to eliminate Khalistan terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar. India, accusing Canada of interfering in its internal matters, asked the country to withdraw over 40 diplomats.
Goyal today said political leaders in Canada have some "baseless misconceptions".
"The politicians of Canada have some baseless misconceptions. Their interests will be adversely affected; it would not cost India anything. We have a huge market, we have opportunities. Canada and Canada's economy will bear the brunt of this decision. We are positively in talks with the United Kingdom (over FTA)," he added.
India last month suspended the free-trade talks with Canada, accusing it of encouraging subversive elements that were carrying out anti-India activities on its soil. The talks would resume only after the impasse was resolved, anonymous sources had told Hindustan Times.
“New Delhi will not engage in trade talks with any country that allows subversive activities against India or its people,” an official had said.
{{/usCountry}}“New Delhi will not engage in trade talks with any country that allows subversive activities against India or its people,” an official had said.
{{/usCountry}}At the G-20 meeting, Prime Minister Narendra Modi conveyed to Canada PM Justin Trudeau his strong concerns about anti-India elements promoting secessionism from Canadian soil and inciting violence against Indian diplomats.
India had been negotiating an interim Indo-Canada Early Progress Trade Agreement (EPTA), which would have finally culminated into a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) or a wide-ranging FTA. The two countries had nine rounds of negotiations until July this year.
Goyal today said in a recent meeting in Saudi Arabia, several countries were jostling for free-trade agreements with India.
"I just came back from two important programmes. One was of course the FII in Saudi Arabia, where I met captains of industries from across the world. After that I was at the Osaka G-7 ministers' meeting... They look up to India as a growth engine of the future. The complaint against me, largely, was that India was not giving enough time to conclude free-trade negotiations fast. Two sets of countries complained to me that our team was not giving attention to our FTA, you are giving somebody else more focus... they were squabbling over who would become our priority," he added.