Toronto [Canada], August 26 (ANI): Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has pitched India as a gateway for Canadian investors and highlighted GIFT City and UPI as key areas for deeper India-Canada financial cooperation.

Addressing a welcome reception on Wednesday with members of the Indian diaspora and business community in Toronto, Canada, as part of her official visit to Canada and the United States, Sitharaman said India offers a combination that is difficult to match, including scale, sustained growth, a young population, rising consumption and rapidly deepening capital markets.

'GIFT City, India's International Financial Services Centre, is emerging as a global platform for international financial institutions, supported by a regulatory and tax framework designed specifically for cross-border financial activity,' she said adding, 'For Canadian institutional investors, this creates opportunities not only to participate in India's growth, but also to use India as a platform for wider regional and global financial activity.'

Apart from this, Sitharaman pitched UPI as an area of collaboration between India and Canada, saying it has become an important tool for financial inclusion, efficiency and innovation.

'There are significant opportunities here for collaboration with Canadian banks, fintech companies and regulators - not only in payments, but in shaping the next generation of digital financial infrastructure, she said.

In her speech, she highlighted India-Canada bilateral relations have witnessed a 'remarkable transformation' in recent times, driven by shared democratic values, expanding economic engagement, increased high-level interactions and strong people-to-people ties.

She described the Indian diaspora in Canada as a 'strategic bridge' between the two democracies and their innovation-driven economies, with a growing presence across Canadian boardrooms, financial markets and pension funds.

Recalling the reset in India-Canada ties, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said the two countries reaffirmed a future-focused strategic partnership during the G7 Summit in June 2025. She noted that Prime Minister Mark Carney's subsequent visit to India advanced the partnership through the launch of CEPA negotiations, a CAD 2.6 billion uranium agreement with Cameco and a joint ambition to more than double bilateral trade to CAD 70 billion by 2030.

FM's US-Canada visit will focus on strengthening bilateral economic and financial partnerships, deepening investment linkages and advancing cooperation on shared global economic priorities.

According to data shared by the Government of Canada, two-way merchandise trade between Canada and India reached CAD 10.9 billion in 2025, comprising CAD 3.9 billion in Canadian exports and CAD 7 billion in imports from India. Canada's services exports to India stood at CAD 15.6 billion in 2024, up 16.3 per cent from the previous year. (ANI)