New Delhi: Moving to transform ties to a next level partnership and putting behind a bitter recent past, India and Canada signed a landmark $2.6 billion uranium supply deal in New Delhi on Monday during the state visit of Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Canadian counterpart were present when the agreement was signed.This comes at a time when global politics and trade are changing under US President Donald Trump’s second term
The two sides also signed pacts on critical minerals and decided to establish the India- Canada defence dialogue and agreed to conclude a comprehensive economic partnership agreement by the end of this year and set an aim to increase bilateral trade to $50 billion by 2030.
“We want to take bilateral trade to $50 Billion by 2030. We are expanding our partnerships in technology, innovation, AI, critical minerals, renewable energy, agriculture and more.There is immense scope to work together in education and cultural exchanges” PM Modi said in a post on X after the talk.
Prime Minister Mark Carney said “the visit is a turning point in relations between the two countries. It marked the end of a challenging period and more importantly, the beginning of a new, more ambitious partnership between two confident and complementary nations.”
Talks on a trade agreement are moving forward. “We are advancing towards a Canada-India Economic Partnership Agreement with an aim to conclude it by the end of this year.” Carney said, terming India as a “natural partner”.
Following bilateral talks, they signed eight government-to-government pacts, and 24 MoUs or partnerships among universities and institutions in areas such as AI, healthcare, agriculture, and innovation.
This is a huge turnaround in bilateral ties which took a severe hit after Carney’s predecessor Justin Trudeau in September 2023, alleged that Indian government agents were involved in the killing of Khalistan separatist Hardeep Singh Nijjar – a charge India rejected as “absurd” and “politically motivated”.
As per the uranium agreement, Canada-based company Cameco will supply nearly 22 million pounds of uranium to India,Cameco is a uranium mining company based in Saskatchewan for over 60 years. It is also among the world’s largest publicly traded uranium companies. Canada is the world’s second largest uranium producer and accounts for roughly 13 to 15 percent of global output.
The agreement will supply uranium to India for its civilian nuclear power programme. This uranium will help generate nuclear energy. The supply will start from 2027 and continue till 2035.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi said in a joint statement “We have reached a landmark deal for long-term uranium supply. We will also work together on small modular reactors and advanced reactors.”
Why nuclear fuel matters for India
This uranium deal is very important for India’s long-term energy plans. India aims to have 100 gigawatts of nuclear power capacity by 2047.
However, Canada is a “reliable and stable partner” for critical minerals and uranium.We set a target of 100 gigawatts for nuclear energy by 2030, MEA secretary P Kumaran said in a media briefing.
“This is an important milestone in India-Canada relations. I can say with confidence that from our very first meeting, the India-Canada friendship has gained new energy, mutual trust and positivity. Our talks today focussed on further strengthening this relationship for the benefit of the people of our nations,” He added.
Right now, India’s nuclear power capacity is about 8.78 gigawatts. It could go up to around 22.38 gigawatts by 2031-32 as new reactors start working.
India’s economy is growing fast and needs more energy. India is the third largest energy user in the world. It uses about 5.5 million barrels of crude oil every day and imports around 80 percent of its oil needs.
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