International Trade Minister Mary Ng and Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal announced Friday that the two countries will formally relaunch negotiations on an economic-partnership agreement, accelerate talks on an investment-protection pact, and consider an early-progress accord. The two also called for greater cooperation on critical minerals and science, technology and innovation collaboration. (The Logic)

Talking point: When they’re finally signed, the deals will have been decades in the making. Canada and India began negotiating the investment treaty in September 2004, and the economic-partnership agreement in November 2010. Ottawa has considered the deals close to completion before, only for New Delhi to back away; both countries have since changed governments at least once. Ng’s India trip, due to conclude Sunday, is a bid to revive some momentum. Bilateral trade remains small, with only about US$6.3 billion in goods flowing between the two countries in 2021. Beyond barriers impeding Prairie farmers’ exports of pulses to the subcontinent, a deal could address r​​egulatory hurdles to services as Canadian financial-services firms and institutional investors take an increasing interest in India.