News Delhi (India), 6 Feb.: EXTERNAL AFFAIRS Minister S Jaishankar on Monday held wide-ranging discussion with visiting Canadian Foreign minister Melanie Joly with a thrust on boosting overall bilateral engagement, including in areas of trade and investment.
Joly, who began her two-day visit to India on Monday, said both ministers reviewed the progress in bilateral relations, which are anchored in shared democratic values, growing economic linkages, security cooperation, mobility of students and professionals and strong people-to-people ties.
“Both sides expressed interest in deepening collaboration across domains and looked forward to the Early Progress Trade Agreement (EPTA),” the External Affairs Ministry said in a statement.
The statement also said that the ministers had the opportunity to deliberate on contemporary issues, including developments in India’s neighbourhood, Ukraine and cooperation in the United Nations. “Both sides strengthened their commitment to deepen bilateral ties,” it said.
During the meeting, the Ministers also discussed strengthening the economic partnership between Canada and India, advancing security cooperation, facilitating migration and mobility between the two countries, and growing our strong people-to-people ties.
In their bilateral discussion on Monday, the Ministers agreed furthering Canada-India cooperation in the Indo-Pacific, following the announcement of Canada’s Indo-Pacific Strategy in November. Canada and India share a common vision for a free and open Indo-Pacific, anchored in our shared values of democracy, pluralism, and the rule of law.
Minister Jaishankar and Minister Joly also exchanged views on priorities for the G20, which India is hosting this year. Canada and India will work closely together to achieve ambitious outcomes in the G20 including on priority areas like economic growth, women-led development, and green transitions.
Joly also met officials of a number of Canadian business firms operating in India.
Minister Joly and Minister Jaishankar will continue to work towards advancing the Canada-India Partnership for Security and Growth as part of wider and growing cooperation between our governments on a range of shared priorities this year.
EAM @DrSJaishankar meets his Canadian counterpart @melaniejoly , welcomed at Hyderbad House, in Delhi. Indo- Pacific strategies on their discussion agenda. More at #WNN @AfricaWnn pic.twitter.com/zRtQexVbXI
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-Dr. M Shahid Siddiqui (PhD), Follow via Twitter @shahidsiddiqui
