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All eyes on India-Canada talks
Manmohan, Harper likely to sign N-fuel supply agreement to resume supplies suspended after Pokhran-1998
Varinder Walia
Editor, Punjabi Tribune

Dr Manmohan Singh will be the first Indian Prime Minister in 12 years to visit Canada when he lands in Toronto tomorrow after a ‘technical halt’ here at Frankfurt. The last time an Indian PM visited Canada was in 1998 when Inder Kumar Gujral was received by the Canadians. Soon thereafter, Canada imposed sanctions on India following the Pokhran nuclear test.

While the PM’s official agenda is to participate in the G-20 summit, there is a sense of anticipation over the bilateral talks he will have with his counterpart, Stephen Harper, on Sunday. The PM is likely to sign a nuclear fuel supply agreement so that Canada may resume nuclear supplies suspended after India’s nuclear tests in 1974 and in 1998. Other agreements in the pipeline are a Social Security Agreement, MoU on Cultural Cooperation, MoU on Cooperation in Combating Drug Trafficking, Agreement on Civil Nuclear Cooperation, MoU for Cooperation in the Mining Sector, Transfer of Prisoners Agreement.

Since 1998, all the three Canadian Prime Ministers -- Jean Chretien, Paul Martin and Stephen Harper -- have been to India. In 2009, as many as 11 federal and provincial ministers from Canada visited India and a number of agreements ranging from agriculture to culture were signed. When Stephen Harper visited India in November last year, it was speculated that both India and Canada might sign a Free Trade pact to give a boost to bilateral trade. At present, Indo-Canadian trade is a minuscule percentage of the trade Canada has with some other countries.

Stephen Harper has been quoted by the Canadian media as saying, “Canada and India are developing the tremendous potential of relationship by rapidly expanding commercial, cultural and educational ties. Canada is endowed with vast natural reserves in potash, uranium, coal, oil and gas, diamonds and forest products and offers good opportunities for investments or joint ventures for India. Canada with its advanced technological base can become India’s natural partner in energy, agriculture, food processing, education, science and technology, innovation, environment and cleaner technologies.”

India in turn would welcome investment from Canada in sectors such as infrastructure, energy, mining, health, education, communication, food processing, information technology, etc.