Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe speaks with reporters in Mumbai, India, on Friday.Adrian Wyld/The Canadian Press
Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe is sounding an optimistic note about the chances of reaching a deal soon to supply India with uranium as he landed in Mumbai Friday with Prime Minister Mark Carney for talks on expanding trade with the subcontinent.
The Globe and Mail reported in November that Canada and India were putting the finishing touches on a 10-year deal worth US$2.8-billion but that the value and terms could change before an announcement. The uranium would be supplied by Canada’s Cameco Corp., and the export deal could be part of a broader nuclear co-operation effort between Canada and India.
Mr. Moe, whose province is home to Cameco, met with India’s Department of Atomic Energy in Mumbai on Friday, his office said.
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Dinesh Patnaik, India’s envoy to Canada, this week said he expects a uranium deal to be announced during the Carney visit which began Friday and ends Monday with meetings with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Mr. Moe didn’t confirm the deal Friday but told reporters that India gaining access to Canadian uranium supply is one of several things that is “very possible in the near future.” He said such an arrangement is “entirely within the possibility to move and move quickly.”
Back in 2015, the two countries signed a five-year pact to supply Cameco uranium to India, valued at about $350-million at the time based on uranium prices.
The Premier said his government has been “working and advocating and communicating and having discussions about renewing that agreement.”
Mr. Moe and New Brunswick Premier Susan Holt have joined Mr. Carney on his first visit to India as Prime Minister. Mr. Carney has set a goal of doubling non-U.S. trade over 10 years in order to reduce reliance on the increasingly protectionist U.S. market.
The two leaders are expected to launch talks on a comprehensive trade deal. Mr. Patnaik has said he expects a deal could be reached in less than a year and Ms. Holt told reporters she agrees a deal is possibly relatively quickly.
Mr. Carney met Friday in Mumbai with Natarajan Chandrasekaran, chair of the Indian conglomerate Tata Group, the Prime Minister’s Office said. Its holdings include auto giant Tata Motors. Tata has a joint venture in Canada called Tata Steel Minerals Canada.
Mr. Moe said Saskatchewan wants to sell more potash and petroleum, agricultural products and critical minerals to India.
New Brunswick Premier Susan Holt, speaking with reporters in Mumbai, is meeting with Indian companies such as Infosys and HCL.Adrian Wyld/The Canadian Press
Mr. Patnaik, India’s high commissioner to Canada, told The Globe in January his country’s appetite for resources is boundless. “If you can sell it to us, we will buy it: We want to do deals on minerals, on rare earths, on critical minerals and oil and gas, on agri-foods, on fertilizer, on potash − you name it,” the envoy said, later adding uranium and lumber to the list.
Both Saskatchewan and New Brunswick have trade offices in India and Ms. Holt said she was meeting with Indian companies such as Infosys and HCL looking to invest in Canada as well as Canadian companies, such as McCain Foods that are expanding across the subcontinent.
She said New Brunswick is primed to send more to India. “The port of Saint John can get a container from Saint John to India in 15 days.”
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The province’s biggest export to India at the moment is forestry products that can be used to make clothing such as rayon products, Ms. Holt said.
Ms. Holt said the liquefied natural gas terminal in Saint John that was built to receive LNG shipments could one day “be a gateway to send that natural gas to places like India that are interested in it.”
Mr. Moe was asked whether he agrees with the controversial assessment of a Canadian government official this week on India.
A senior government official told reporters at a background briefing Wednesday that Ottawa does not believe India is still meddling in this country’s domestic politics and orchestrating violence and intimidation against Canadian Sikhs who support the idea of creating an independent Sikh homeland in what is now the Indian state of Punjab. The Globe is not naming the official because they weren’t authorized to speak publicly on the matter.
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Mr. Moe said as a premier he’s not privy to the conversations with law enforcement agencies which monitor foreign interference have with the federal government on these matters. “I do trust that the federal government certainly does manage Canadian safety and ensure that Canadians are safe.”
Indian tariffs on Canadian agricultural products continue to harm Saskatchewan’s farming industry.
Last year, India imposed a 30-per-cent tariff on Canadian yellow peas. It also has 10-per-cent levies on lentils.
Mr. Moe he’s concerned that India could further raise tariffs on lentils because of domestic issues in that country.
With reports from The Canadian Press