NEW DELHI — India and Canada on Monday signed a $2.6 billion uranium supply agreement and set a year-end deadline to conclude negotiations on a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA), as both countries moved to deepen cooperation in energy, critical minerals and emerging technologies.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney announced the developments following a bilateral summit, where the two leaders emphasized expanding long-term collaboration across the energy value chain and boosting two-way trade.
In a joint statement, the leaders welcomed the conclusion of a Canadian $2.6 billion commercial agreement between Cameco and India’s Department of Atomic Energy for the long-term supply of uranium. The deal is expected to support India’s civil nuclear energy generation, clean energy transition goals and long-term energy security.
Recognizing their complementary strengths as energy producers, the two sides agreed to advance the India-Canada Strategic Energy Partnership, aimed at expanding cooperation in clean energy, conventional energy, civil nuclear power and critical minerals.
“They underscored the shared commitment to enhancing collaboration across clean energy, conventional energy, civil nuclear energy, and critical minerals to promote affordability, sustainability, and economic growth,” the joint statement said.
Both governments expressed support for expanding bilateral energy trade, including liquefied natural gas (LNG), liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), crude oil, refined petroleum products, potash and uranium.
At a joint news conference, Modi said New Delhi and Ottawa aim to increase bilateral trade to $50 billion by 2030, up from nearly $9 billion in 2024–25.
The leaders acknowledged the potential for India to increase oil and LNG imports from Canada, while Canada could expand purchases of refined petroleum products from India. Canada reaffirmed plans to expand heavy oil export infrastructure and LNG supplies to the Indo-Pacific region, with a goal of producing 50 million tonnes of LNG annually by 2030 and up to 100 million tonnes by 2040.
The two sides also welcomed ongoing discussions between Indian public-sector oil and gas companies and Canadian energy firms to enhance cooperation in LPG.
Both governments pledged support for greater private-sector investment and long-term offtake arrangements through financial tools such as loans, financing mechanisms and equity investments to support commercially viable projects.
In addition to energy, the leaders welcomed the signing of a memorandum of understanding on critical minerals cooperation to strengthen resilient and diversified supply chains. They agreed to deepen collaboration on energy transition pathways and explore cooperation to support India’s mineral stockpiling initiative, while sharing expertise on emissions reduction and transition technologies.
A separate memorandum of understanding on clean energy cooperation was also signed, establishing an institutional framework for collaboration in solar, wind, bioenergy, small hydro, energy storage and capacity building. Canada has said it expects to double electricity supply by 2050 while significantly expanding renewable energy and storage capacity.
The leaders also discussed strengthening strategic cooperation in space, including partnerships between government agencies and private-sector players. Building on that framework, both countries plan to explore joint initiatives integrating artificial intelligence into space and aerospace technologies, including earth observation systems.
They also agreed to examine collaboration on AI-assisted tools to enhance telemedicine and diagnostic capabilities in remote regions of both countries.
In agriculture, Modi and Carney highlighted growing complementarities between India and Canada in agri-food systems and underscored the importance of strengthening cooperation to improve food security, farm productivity and resilient supply chains.
The two leaders said they aim to finalize negotiations on the CEPA trade agreement by the end of the year, marking a significant step toward expanding economic ties between the two countries. (Source: IANS)
