Canada PM expected in India in March for uranium, energy and AI deals
Canada’s Prime Minister Mark Carney will likely visit India the first week of March and sign deals on uranium, energy, minerals and artificial intelligence, Dinesh Patnaik, India’s High Commissioner to Canada said in an interview.
Carney is making all-out efforts to diversify Canada’s alliances beyond the U.S., its top trade partner. In Davos last week, he earned a rare standing ovation for saying the old rules-based order is over and called on middle powers like Canada to build coalitions to shape a fairer, more resilient world.
His viral speech followed an agreement with China to slash tariffs on electric vehicles and canola and open up to C$7 billion ($5.11 billion) in export markets as he tries to double non-U.S. exports over the next decade.
“I have a feeling in the first week of March is what we are looking at,” said High Commissioner Patnaik on Carney’s visit during a weekend interview.
This week, Canada’s Energy Minister Tim Hodgson is visiting India and said the timing of Carney’s trip was not yet set.
“There are plans for the Prime Minister to visit at some point this year, it will depend on the progress we make,” Hodgson said in a Sunday interview.
Formal negotiations for a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) with India should also start in March, Patnaik said. The countries agreed to restart stalled trade talks in November.
Carney will sign smaller agreements with the Indian government on nuclear energy, oil and gas, the environment, AI and quantum computing as well as deals on education and culture during his visit, Patnaik said.
A 10-year C$2.8 billion uranium supply deal is likely to be included, he added.
Hodgson did not confirm the deal, but said Canada is happy to sell uranium under the Canada-India nuclear cooperation agreement as long as India is prepared to abide by International Energy Agency safeguards.
“We know that India is a major nuclear country and it has major plans to grow its civilian use of nuclear energy,” Hodgson said. “So that would be one of the topics I expect that we will discuss with my counterpart.”
Between Hodgson’s visit and Carney’s, both countries will be announcing agreements around energy and mining, Patnaik said, adding that a pact on critical minerals and crude and LNG transactions will be the most prominent ones.
