India and Canada are in dialogue for signing a bilateral trade agreement which aims to give a push to trade between the two countries.
"I think the potential (for growth in trade) is huge. It stands at about USD five billion in trade. Our goal is to try and raise it to USD 15 billion over the next few years by signing a trade agreement," Joe Daniel, Member of Parliament, Canada, told reporters here today after addressing a meeting on Indo-Canadian investment organised by the CII.
The agreement, proposed to be comprehensive, envisages abolition of duties or taxes on products and services paving way for bilateral trade to grow, he said.
"It (agreement) aims at making life easier when we are actually trading between us. If you are bringing a product and there is certain amount of duty, there won't be any more duty on that. That's kind of a general principle. It makes it easier for you to bring it in there," he said.
The trade pact is being negotiated for about three years now and certain areas of trade have impeded its signing, Daniel said.
"I don't know the exact details, because I am not in the negotiations. But there are certain areas where we are not able to agree between India and Canada. Those are the areas that are the sticky points," he said.
Replying to a query, he said he cannot put a time-frame on when the agreement can be firmed up as it is being negotiated between the two governments.
"My personal opinion is you should sign something on things you have agreed on. Things that are sticky, they can carry on negotiating till they come to some agreement," he said.
The agreement, upon its signing, would also facilitate Canadian investment into India.
