India-Canada Free Trade Agreement talks to get ‘political heft’: Piyush Goyal

New Delhi: Negotiations for an India-Canada free trade agreement are progressing rapidly and will soon get “political heft”, commerce and industry minister Piyush Goyal said on Thursday, adding that the proposed India-US trade deal is “almost done and dusted” and awaiting a competitive tariff architecture.

Goyal said he met his Canadian counterpart last week in Mumbai and indicated that ministers would become more closely involved in the talks rather than leaving them to bureaucrats.

Speaking at the Leadership Dialogue at the 13th PAFI Annual Forum 2026 in New Delhi, Goyal said the Narendra Modi government was pursuing trade agreements based on what he described as “fair, equitable and balanced” terms, in contrast to deals negotiated by the erstwhile Congress-led UPA government.

“The mindset of the nation has changed today. Now we negotiate from a position of strength. Now we negotiate with confidence in our abilities,” he said, referring to recent trade agreements with the UAE, Australia, the UK, the EU and New Zealand.

Goyal defended Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s decision in 2019 to keep India out of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), saying membership of the China-led trade bloc could have resulted in a flood of imports that would have hurt Indian industry.

Referring to the recently concluded India-EU trade agreement, Goyal said India had secured larger quotas for steel, a $500 million climate-finance commitment and safeguards for sensitive sectors such as dairy and agriculture.

“It’s only the beginning, there’s going to be much more coming,” he said.

Goyal said the India-US trade agreement was among nine deals he considered to have been reached by the Modi government, although the two sides were still working on tariffs. “It is almost done and dusted. We have to find the right, comparable, competitive advantage over our competitors so that we can quickly execute the agreement,” he said.

Goyal said the nine agreements collectively provided India preferential market access to economies with a combined GDP of about $60 trillion. Including trade agreements signed by previous governments, he said, India would have access to markets representing about $70 trillion in GDP.

He said negotiations were also progressing with several other countries and blocs. Talks with Chile were moving towards an agreement, while negotiations with Peru could face difficulties because of competing interests, he said.

India has also finalised the terms of reference for FTA negotiations with Mexico, with commerce secretary Rajesh Agrawal expected to visit the country soon. Negotiations are under way with Maldives, Mercosur, the Southern African Customs Union (SACU), the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) and Israel.

We are in dialogue with Eurasia (Central Asia and Russia) for a free trade agreement, he said. Speaking about India’s engagement with the GCC, he said New Delhi already has separate FTAs with the UAE and Oman. Other three started coming individually, so finally we decided to have an FTA with the GCC, which we have launched and we will do first round of negotiations in October or so, he said. The GCC members are Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the UAE.

He said the India-Israel negotiations was already launched and two rounds have been held so far. According to him, the two will see faster progress after the election in Israel, which is expected soon. Taking all these potential deals, India will collectively get access to another $15 trillion GDP, he said. “So 75% of global GDP… India will be part of [this] value chains, supply chains, flow of goods, services, tourists, educational institutions, sports” as most of them have “multifaceted” arrangements, he added.

Goyal said India would hold the first round of negotiations with the GCC in October. The six-member bloc comprises Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the UAE. India already has separate trade agreements with the UAE and Oman.

India-Israel FTA negotiations have also begun, with two rounds completed, and Goyal said he expected faster progress after Israel’s forthcoming election.

He said India was also in dialogue with countries in Central Asia and Russia for a broader Eurasian trade agreement.

Taken together, the potential agreements under negotiation could provide India access to another $15 trillion economy, Goyal said. He said the government’s objective was to integrate India more deeply into global value chains and supply chains covering goods, services, tourism, education and sports.

Goyal said India’s trade negotiations were being guided by the government’s goal of making the country a developed economy by 2047.