Toronto [Canada], August 26 (ANI): Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has stated that India and Canada represent the "most natural partners" globally, emphasising that bilateral relations have undergone a "remarkable transformation" in recent times.
The Finance Minister arrived in Toronto on Tuesday for a four-day official visit to Canada, aimed at boosting bilateral trade, investment linkages, and financial cooperation.
Addressing an Indian diaspora business community reception in Toronto, Sitharaman noted that "India-Canada bilateral relations have seen a remarkable transformation in recent times, underpinned by our shared values of democracy and pluralism, and expanding economic engagement, and an unprecedented pace of high-level interactions, which the High Commissioner recalled a minute ago, and the strength of our people-to-people ties."
Lauding the Indian business fraternity in Canada, she described it as "a community that sits inside Canadian boardrooms, on the trading floors of Bay Street, inside the risk committees of the pension funds. It is, in the truest sense, a strategic bridge between two vibrant democracies and two innovation-driven economies."
Recalling the meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney during the G7 Summit in June 2025, she highlighted that both leaders agreed to reset bilateral ties by reaffirming a "future-focused strategic partnership".
"This was further advanced during Prime Minister Carney's visit to India early this year, which formally launched CEPA negotiations, a Canadian $2.6 billion uranium agreement with Cameco, the adoption of Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam as an overarching framework of the renewed strategic partnership, and a joint declaration of ambition to more than double two-way trade to Canadian $70 billion by 2030," she stated.
Reiterating her view that both nations are the "most natural partners in the world", the Minister highlighted their common values.
"We are both vibrant democracies wedded to the rule of law. We share the Commonwealth traditions, a similar parliamentary model, and the same official language. We see eye-to-eye on most geopolitical questions. We both champion UN-based multilateralism, North-South cooperation, and a rules-based international order. Above all, Canada and India are the two great multicultural societies in today's world that truly value and cherish diversity. And that is a bond that goes deeper than any trade agreement," she said.
Sitharaman underscored that India currently stands as the fastest-growing major economy globally, offering an unmatched combination of scale, sustained growth, a young demographic, rising consumption, and rapidly expanding capital markets.
"India's transformation is structural. Rapid urbanisation, a growing middle class and world-class digital infrastructure are creating new opportunities across virtually every sector of the economy. Our digital ecosystem has also dramatically reduced the cost of access and expanded the reach of financial and commercial services," she remarked.
She pointed out that the partnership between the two countries is "increasingly moving from capital flows to deeper institutional engagement".
"Capital markets are only one dimension of a modern financial partnership. Equally important is the underlying financial infrastructure," she noted, praising India's Unified Payments Interface (UPI) framework.
"There are significant opportunities here for collaboration with Canadian banks, fintech companies and regulators, not only in payments, but in shaping the next generation of digital financial infrastructure," she added.
The Finance Minister also emphasised that India is opening "new gateways" for foreign investments.
"GIFT City, India's International Financial Services Centre, is emerging as a global platform for international financial institutions, supported by a regulatory and tax framework designed specifically for cross-border financial activity," she stated.
Sitharaman added that India has "progressively opened" sectors such as insurance, asset management, and pensions to greater overseas involvement, alongside the growth of deeper, more liquid, and sophisticated capital markets.
For Canadian institutional investors, she noted this offers avenues not just to participate in India's expansion, but to "use India as a platform for wider regional and global financial activity". (ANI)
"India, Canada most natural partners; bond goes deeper than any trade pact", says FM Nirmala Sitharaman
