PM Narendra Modi to visit Canada on December 11,12: What’s on the agenda?

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit Canada on December 11 and 12, the Indian High Commission in Ottawa said.

The date of the visit was also confirmed by Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney while speaking with visitors at a local restaurant in Calgary on Thursday morning.

Carney said he just spoke to Modi and the visit will take place in Toronto and Ottawa. “We’ll see if we can broaden it out,” he added. The Indian High Commission in a social media post on Thursday said Modi will visit Canada on December 11-12.

“In the recent conversation with Rt. Hon. PM Mark Carney, both the leaders agreed to build on the positive momentum in ties and work towards concrete outcomes in trade, energy, technology, security and people-to-people ties,” it said.

On Tuesday, Modi said he had a “warm and productive” conversation with his Canadian counterpart, with both leaders agreeing to build on the “positive momentum” in bilateral ties.

In a post on X, Modi said that together, India and Canada are contributing towards a “more stable and prosperous world.”

“Had a warm and productive conversation with Prime Minister Mark Carney. We agreed to build on the positive momentum in India-Canada ties and work towards concrete outcomes across key areas of our Strategic Partnership, including trade, energy, technology, security and people-to-people ties,” he said.

A statement from Carney’s office said that the two leaders reaffirmed their commitment to conclude negotiations on a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) at the earliest opportunity, supporting efforts to double two-way trade by 2030.

Trade negotiations launched in March

Earlier, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said this week that trade negotiations with India are making “good progress” and that the two countries are aiming to conclude talks by the G20 summit in mid-December.

“We are making good progress in our trade negotiations with India,” Carney said at a news conference on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York.

Modi is expected to sign a completed trade deal, the Globe and Mail reported, citing New Delhi’s envoy Dinesh Patnaik, last month.

Carney was quoted in the same report saying that Modi had committed to try to conclude negotiations by the G20. The summit is scheduled for December 14-15 at Trump National Doral in Miami, United States where US President Donald Trump will host global leaders.

Canada and India formally launched negotiations on a comprehensive trade agreement in March, with both governments committing to conclude talks by the end of 2026.

Reset in India-Canada ties

The reset in India-Canada ties follows a deep diplomatic rupture over the 2023 killing of Canadian Sikh activist Hardeep Singh Nijjar in British Columbia. Former Prime Minister Justin Trudeauhad said there were credible allegations linking agents of the Indian government to Nijjar’s killing.

The Royal Canadian Mounted Police later said it had evidence allegedly linking Indian government agents to homicides and other violent acts in Canada.

Carney has moved quickly to rebuild ties. His visit to India earlier this year was the first bilateral visit by a Canadian prime minister since 2018.