India, Canada Hold Foreign Office Consultations

| Updated: 15 March, 2022 2:54 pm IST

Marta Morgan, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Canada with Saurabh Kumar, Secretary (East), MEA in New Delhi on Monday.

NEW DELHI: India and Canada held Foreign Office Consultations (FOCs) here on Monday, during which they reviewed the progress of bilateral cooperation in a wide range of areas including security, science and technology, and trade and investment, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said.

The Indian delegation was led by Saurabh Kumar, Secretary (East) in the MEA, and the Canadian side was led by Deputy Foreign Minister Marta Morgan.

“Both sides reviewed the progress of bilateral cooperation in domains such as political, security, trade and investment, education, science and technology, consular and mobility. They agreed that the two countries should continue work to renew the momentum in relations and convene meetings of bilateral dialogues and working groups,” the MEA said in a release.

Both the countries also exchanged their assessment on “regional, multilateral and global issues of mutual interest” during the consultations.

The last Foreign Office Consultations were held in a virtual mode in March last year. The next meeting will take place in Ottawa, Canada on a “mutually convenient date”.

Canadian Deputy Foreign Minister Marta Morgan’s visit to India came just three days after Mary Ng, Minister of Small Business, Export Promotion and International Trade of Canada met Indian Trade and Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and several other senior ministers, and business leaders in New Delhi.

India and Canada have announced to formally relaunch negotiations for a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA). Both the countries have also agreed to consider an interim deal, the Early Progress Trade Agreement (EPTA). The trade talks were delayed due to the Covid-19 pandemic.