After thaw, bonhomie: Carney, Modi sign $2.6bn uranium deal | India News
New Delhi: The dramatic turnaround in India-Canada relations over the past 10 months culminated in a series of major announcements and deals, including a landmark $2.6 billion deal to supply 22 million pounds of uranium to India from 2027 to 2035, as Prime Minister Narendra Modi hosted his counterpart Mark Carney here on Monday.
The leaders committed to concluding a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) by the end of this year, finalizing terms of reference for both sides and announcing an agreement to launch a new strategic energy partnership and defense dialogue as well as strengthen cooperation on critical minerals.Transforming economies need to diversify: Carney The two sides discussed each other’s security concerns – separatist activity in the case of India and transnational repression for Canada – but the leaders avoided any explicit mention of these issues in their media comments, favoring the meeting’s focus on ongoing security cooperation and strengthening ties.Modi credited Karni for increasing momentum in all areas of cooperation. The Canadian Prime Minister responded by saying that it was not just a renewal of ties but also an expansion of partnership as India and Canada transform their economies to be more diversified, more independent and more resilient.However, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MEA) later rejected allegations of involvement in transnational violence or organized crime as reported in the Canadian media, calling the claims baseless, politically motivated and “unsupported by credible evidence despite repeated requests”.
“India believes that concerns of this nature should be addressed through credible law enforcement and judicial processes, not through public or political narratives,” said MEA Secretary (East) P Kumaran. The official was responding to questions related to Canadian media reports linking Indian officials to the killing of Sikh separatist Hardeep Nijja in Vancouver and a Canadian readout of the Modi-Karney meeting that said Canada would take steps to counter international repression. According to Canada’s readout, the leaders agreed to advance bilateral cooperation on security and law enforcement, including issues of mutual concern between Canada and India.Modi said progress in ties was driven by both sides’ unwavering faith in democratic values, diversity and humanity and aimed to reach $50 billion in annual trade by 2030. The Canadian side said CEPA could lead to $70 billion in trade over the next five years. While eight agreements/MOUs were signed at the government level, another 24 agreements or partnerships were announced between universities and institutes in areas such as AI, healthcare, agriculture and innovation. A Memorandum of Understanding has been signed for the development and deployment of AI under the Australia-Canada-India Technology and Innovation Partnership.“Unlocking the full potential of economic cooperation is our priority. Hence, we have decided to finalize CEPA as soon as possible. It will create new opportunities for investment and employment in both countries,” Modi said. “With Canada and India as innovation partners, we will turn ideas into global solutions,” the Prime Minister said, adding that the MoU on critical minerals will also strengthen supply chain resilience.While Kearney did not touch on the issue of terrorism, Modi said they agreed that terrorism, extremism and radicalization are joint and serious challenges not only for both countries but for the entire humanity.
