{"id":405788,"date":"2025-11-26T10:46:22","date_gmt":"2025-11-26T10:46:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/405788\/"},"modified":"2025-11-26T10:46:22","modified_gmt":"2025-11-26T10:46:22","slug":"saskatchewan-soft-power-fuelled-the-canada-india-reset-on-trade","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/405788\/","title":{"rendered":"Saskatchewan soft power fuelled the Canada-India reset on trade"},"content":{"rendered":"

Open this photo in gallery:<\/a><\/p>\n

Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe has maintained a relentless focus on pursuing new trade opportunities in India during his seven years in office.Heywood Yu\/The Canadian Press<\/p>\n

Canada and India are restarting free-trade talks and turning the page on two tumultuous years of diplomatic discord.<\/p>\n

Much of the credit goes to Prime Minister Mark Carney<\/a> for using his global gravitas to reset the bilateral relationship with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. But Mr. Carney\u2019s unofficial Western Canadian wingman merits a mention, too. <\/p>\n

Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe had a major hand in repairing Canada\u2019s relationship with India because of his government\u2019s behind-the-scenes efforts to strengthen business ties between the two Commonwealth countries \u2013 even when the antipathy between Ottawa and New Delhi hit new lows.<\/p>\n

That persistence \u2013 let\u2019s call it Saskatchewan soft power \u2013 underscores why the federal government must increasingly leverage this type of subnational savvy if it is serious about finally clinching a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement with India after more than 15 years of on-again, off-again talks.<\/p>\n

Canada and India have a shared ambition to double two-way trade to $70-billion by 2030. Toward that end, the countries have indicated their forthcoming free-trade pact will cover goods, services, investment, agriculture, agri-food and much more. <\/p>\n

Canada to announce uranium export deal with India in further sign of warming relations<\/a><\/p>\n

The Carney government has pledged to double non-U.S. exports over the next decade to diversify trade away from an increasingly protectionist United States. Canada must expand trade with India if it has any hope of achieving that goal.<\/p>\n

With a gross domestic product of US$4.13-trillion, the South Asian country has the fifth-largest economy in the world. Canada, meanwhile, ranks 10th globally with a GDP of US$2.23-trillion, according to the International Monetary Fund.<\/p>\n

That brings us back to Saskatchewan, which is proving to be the linchpin of Canada-India trade because of its exports of pulse crops, potash and uranium. In fact, the Prairie province accounts for roughly 40 per cent of Canada\u2019s total exports to India.<\/p>\n

Mr. Moe has maintained a relentless focus on pursuing new trade opportunities in India since he became Premier seven years ago. To his credit, he immediately understood the importance of showing up in person to bolster those commercial ties.<\/p>\n

\u201cIndia is one of Saskatchewan\u2019s most important markets,\u201d Mr. Moe said following his first trade mission to India in 2018.<\/p>\n

\u201cWith an export-driven economy like Saskatchewan, we need to engage proactively with key markets like India to ensure we are creating wealth and opportunity for Saskatchewan people. That\u2019s what trade missions like this are all about.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mr. Moe continued to travel to India<\/a> \u2013 emphasizing the importance of business-to-business relationships \u2013 even after the rupture between Ottawa and New Delhi.<\/p>\n

\u201cSaskatchewan has been working alongside India for many years and I\u2019m proud of the relationships we\u2019ve built in that time,\u201d Mr. Moe said about a trip he made in 2024.<\/p>\n

His efforts have borne fruit. <\/p>\n

In 2022, Canpotex, a Saskatoon-based potash exporter, signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to provide supplies to Indian fertilizer companies Coromandel International, Chambal Fertilisers and Indian Potash Ltd. <\/p>\n

At the time, <\/b>an Indian government minister hailed the MOU<\/a> as a \u201cpath-breaking step\u201d that would lead to \u201cstrengthening of our mutual relationship and furthering bilateral relations between the two countries.\u201d<\/p>\n

Earlier this year, the University of Saskatchewan and the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, India, signed a joint declaration of intent to collaborate on research and development of critical minerals.<\/p>\n

And in another sign of Saskatchewan suavity, The Globe and Mail reported Wednesday<\/a> that Canada and India are finalizing a long-term uranium supply agreement worth US$2.8-billion. (Ottawa, of course, should demand that New Delhi drop its punitive tariffs on Canadian yellow peas<\/a> before signing on the dotted line.)<\/p>\n

Securing supplies of uranium is key to India\u2019s plan of liberalizing foreign investment in the nuclear energy sector. This could present additional opportunities for Canadian companies and institutional investors. Global energy companies, including France\u2019s EDF and U.S.-based Westinghouse, are already assessing such possibilities, according to a recent report<\/a> in The Financial Times.<\/p>\n

The Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada, meanwhile, has recently highlighted the importance of leveraging \u201csubnational strengths\u201d to further bilateral co-operation on critical minerals.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs federal initiatives gain momentum on both sides, the next phase of Canada\u2013India collaboration will also increasingly hinge on subnational engagement,” states a recent background note<\/a> published by the not-for-profit organization.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn both countries, provinces and states hold jurisdiction over natural resources and anchor key critical mineral projects, processing facilities, and investment ecosystems.\u201d <\/p>\n

There\u2019s no denying that Mr. Moe is a polarizing politician<\/a>. But he has also proven to be pragmatic on matters of trade.<\/p>\n

Love him or hate him, he helped Canada mend its relationship with India. Sometimes being bloody-minded is a strength.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Open this photo in gallery: Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe has maintained a relentless focus on pursuing new trade…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":405789,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[2147,9157,50],"class_list":{"0":"post-405788","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-news","8":"tag-canada","9":"tag-dei","10":"tag-news"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115615602232689114","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/405788","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=405788"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/405788\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/405789"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=405788"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=405788"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=405788"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}