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India and Canada discuss advancing trade pact talks
Why in News?
Why India–Canada trade talks keep stalling and restarting: the CEPA background GS2 bilateral questions expect
India and Canada push on with trade pact negotiations.
Why it matters: factual, Prelims-type
What you need to know
2 min read
Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal discussed advancing negotiations on the proposed India-Canada trade pact with visiting Canadian minister Maninder Sidhu.
Canada’s high commissioner has said he is confident of a pact ahead of Prime Minister Modi’s trip.
Sources: Topper IAS editorial (PIB / The Hindu / Indian Express)
Key facts
Remember these
- Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal discussed advancing the proposed India-Canada trade pact with visiting Canadian minister Maninder Sidhu.
- Canada's high commissioner said he is confident a pact can be reached ahead of Prime Minister Modi's visit.
- The proposed agreement is the India-Canada Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA), with talks first launched in 2010.
- Negotiations were put on hold in 2023 amid diplomatic tensions and have since been revived.
- Trade pacts are negotiated by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry.
Prelims · Mains
How the exam will ask it
Prelims
- A Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) covers trade in goods and services, investment and economic cooperation, going beyond a plain free trade agreement.
- India's trade negotiations are led by the Department of Commerce under the Ministry of Commerce and Industry.
- Bilateral trade agreements are concluded by the executive; no separate parliamentary ratification is constitutionally mandated for them.
Mains
GS2 (International Relations): India's bilateral trade diplomacy with Canada. The issue is the stop-start history of CEPA talks, which diplomatic friction paused in 2023; the policy response is a revived negotiation, with visits timed to close the deal. The implication is wider market access, diversified supply chains and stronger ties with the Indian diaspora in Canada, and the way forward is insulating economic engagement from political disputes while protecting sensitive sectors.
Quick recall
Answer before you reveal
Chinese researchers have created a record-cold rubidium Bose-Einstein condensate, at 9.7 picokelvins, aboard which space station?
- International Space Station
- Mir
- Tiangong
- Skylab
Show answer
Answer: C — Correct: Tiangong — the condensate was cooled aboard China’s Tiangong station, where microgravity allows extremely low temperatures. • International Space Station — wrong: the ISS is operated by a multinational partnership; the experiment was on China’s station. • Mir — wrong: Mir was the Soviet/Russian station, deorbited in 2001, so it cannot host a 2026 experiment. • Skylab — wrong: Skylab was a US station that fell back to Earth in 1979.
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