PM Modi, Carney discuss long-term Uranium supply, set $50 Billion India-Canada trade goal — 5 key takeaways

India and Canada on Monday inked a landmark agreement on cooperation in the supply of uranium and decided to soon finalise a comprehensive economic partnership agreement following talks between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Canadian counterpart, Mark Carney, news agency PTI reported.

Following the Modi-Carney bilateral talks at Hyderabad House in the national capital, the two sides inked several agreements, including one for cooperation in the critical minerals sector.

"In the civil nuclear energy sector, we have struck a landmark deal for long-term uranium supply. We will also work together on small modular reactors and advanced reactors," he said.

"India and Canada hold an unwavering faith in democratic values. We celebrate diversity. The well-being of humanity is our shared vision. This very vision inspires us to move forward in every field," Modi said.

Carney added that Canada was "well positioned to contribute, as a reliable supplier" of liquefied natural gas (LNG) from its west coast.

"As India seeks access to critical minerals for its manufacturing, its clean-tech, and its nuclear plants, Canada's resource base and world-leading companies position it as a strategic partner," he said.

"We agree that terrorism, extremism and radicalisation are shared and serious challenges not only for both countries but for all of humanity," Modi said. "Our close cooperation against them is extremely important for global peace and stability," he said.

"This is why we have decided to finalise a comprehensive economic partnership soon," he added, saying it "will open new opportunities to invest and create jobs in both countries."

"There has been more engagement between the Canadian and Indian governments in the last year than there has been in more than two decades combined," Carney said in New Delhi, in a speech alongside Modi.

"This is not merely the renewal of a relationship. It is the expansion of a valued partnership with new ambition, focus, and foresight, a partnership between two confident countries charting our own course for the future."

Carney arrived in India on Friday for a visit he hoped would reset ties and double trade, offsetting the damage from his country's fracturing relations with the United States. Carney's visit is a key step forward in ties that effectively collapsed in 2023 after Ottawa accused New Delhi of orchestrating a deadly campaign against Sikh activists in Canada.

Before Carney took office last year, Ottawa accused Modi's government of direct involvement in the 2023 killing of Hardeep Singh Nijjar, a naturalised Canadian citizen who was part of a fringe group that advocated for an independent Sikh state called Khalistan. India had denied all these allegations.

(With agency inputs)