Headlines
Canada's Indian community to give rock star welcome to Modi
Ottawa, April 15
The Indo-Canadian community is
set to give a rock star like welcome to Indian Prime Minister Narendra
Modi who landed here on Tuesday for his three-day visit.
Modi was
welcomed by Canadian Multiculturalism Minister Jason Kenney and Indian
High Commissioner Vishnu Prakash and a large number of Indo-Canadian
leaders on his arrival at Ottawa airport from Germany.
There is a
palpable buzz in Canada about Modi's visit as he is the first Indian
prime minister to come here in 42 years since Indira Gandhi’s visit in
1973. Canadian prime ministers have, however, been visiting India quite
regularly.
Modi arrived in Canadian capital Ottawa after completing his France and Germany sojourn.
Bilateral
trade and investment top the agenda of Modi’s talks with his Canadian
counterpart Stephen Harper and CEOs of major Canadian companies.
In
particular, Modi is wooing Canadian pension funds which hold over $600
billion. A deal may be clinched for first Uranium supplies from Canada’s
Cameco under the nuclear deal signed by the two countries in 2010.
Though
a breakthrough on the proposed free trade agreement is unlikely, the
process is going to get the impetus during Modi’s talks with Canadian
leaders.
Both sides showed some urgency to clinch the free trade
accord as they had proposed to triple their bilateral trade to $15
billion by 2015, but both the targets have eluded them as Canada is
reluctant on giving free access to Indian temporary workers and visitors
and India is also wary of giving unhindered access to Canadian goods.
The
bilateral trade between India and Canada is still stuck in the region
of $6 billion, much lower than Canada’s trade of over $60 billion with
China.
In fact, India accounts for just one percent of Canada’s
foreign trade, with fertiliser, iron ore, wood, lentils and canola oil
among its major export items to India.
With Modi wooing
investment for India’s infrastructure and making a pitch for his Make In
India programme, both countries are likely to fast-track ratification
of the investment treaty signed in 2012 to give safeguards to investors
against unfair treatment.
Major Canadian companies such as
Bombardier, McCain Foods Ltd, Sun Life Financial Inc, BlackBerry,
Brookfield Asset Management Inc., etc, have a presence in India.
Modi
will impress upon Canadian investors about his government’s agenda to
open more sectors to foreign investment. There is also buzz about an
announcement by Modi for visa on arrival for Canadians.
Apart
from official discussions, Modi’s engagements with the 1.2
million-strong Indo-Canadian community include a Madison Square
Garden-like 'concert’ at Toronto’s Ricoh Coliseum with a full house of
10,000.
The newly formed National Alliance of Indo-Canadians
(NAIC) is organising the event in which Canadian Prime Minister Stephen
Harper will also speak.
After his Toronto engagements, Modi will
travel to Vancouver where he will visit the oldest Ross Street Sikh
temple. He will also visit the Laxmi Narayan Temple in Vancouver’s
neighbour city of Surrey which is home to the largest concentration of
Indians in Canada.
Giving a typical Bollywood welcome to Modi in
Toronto, Ottawa and Vancouver, choreographer Shiamak Davar’s troupe
will perform in the three cities.
Modi’s three-day visit ends with a dinner with the host PM in Vancouver.
(Gurmukh Singh can be contacted at [email protected])