America
Canadian minister leads India Independence Day celebrations
By
By Gurmukh Singh Toronto, Aug 19
Canadian Defence Minister
Jason Kenney led the India Independence Day celebrations here by
chanting `Bharat Mata ki jai’ and `Hindustan zindabad’.
For the first time also, the Indian Independence Day parade here on Sunday was led by a Canadian military band.
Striking
a chord with the huge Indo-Canadian crowd at the celebrations by
greeting them in multiple Indian languages, the Canadian defence
minister lauded India’s diversity as a model for the world. "Canada
didn’t invent diversity, India did," said the Canadian defence minister
amid huge applause.
He said India is a Hindu-majority nation, but
it had Abdul Kalam, a Muslim, as its president and Manmohan Singh as
prime minister. "India is an example for the world."
Addressing
the Indian prime minister as "Narendra Modi-ji", Jason Kenney said
Canada welcomed him in April during "the first dedicated visit by an
Indian prime minister in 40 years" after decades of "downgraded and
frozen relationship".
Referring to the bilateral nuclear deal and
expansion of Canadian trade missions in India, the minister said "Our
Delhi high commission is the largest Canadian foreign mission in the
world...and we are the only country to have a full consulate in
Chandigarh..."
He said Canada has welcomed nearly 300,000 new
Indian immigrants and the number of Indian students has quadrupled since
his Conservative Party took over in 2006. "Our relationship has never
been stronger."
Welcoming his Canadian guests and the
Indo-Canadian community, Indian Consul General Akhilesh Mishra
highlighted the special bonds between the two countries and the
contribution of the 1.2 million-strong Indo-Canadian community in
promoting ties between the two countries.
"While we can have any
number of trading partners and suppliers of goods and technology, but
Canada is a unique and very special partner for India for innovation
research and human resource development. Because in canada, both in
companies and universities, innovation is not driven primarily by
corporate greed," he said.
The colourful Indian Independence Day
parade, which included cultural troupes from many Indian states, was led
by a Canadian military band and also included Lt Col (Hon) Hari Panday.
Indian Army colonel Vishesh Arora, who was in Toronto, also joined the
parade in his uniform.
After the speeches and the parade, the
day-long celebrations were packed with cultural performances even as
food, jewellery and other ethnic ware stalls turned the heart of Toronto
into a mini India for the day.
Canadian Immigration Minister Chris Alexander was among the many Canadian leaders who attended the celebrations.
(Gurmukh Singh can be contacted at [email protected])