Canada-India ties poised to enter new phase

By Sridhar Krishnaswami

OTTAWA, JULY 5. South Asia is undergoing an historic period of change and Canada is looking forward to being an active participant in the sweeping changes in that part of the world, says Mr. John Manley, Minister of Foreign Affairs, in introducing a comprehensive booklet put out by his Department ``Canada and South Asia: Partners for the New Century''.

``Our strong historical ties with the region coupled with our position as a world leader in telecommunications, transportation, power, natural resources and education distinguish Canada as both a recognised and a logical partner to meet many of South Asia's infrastructure needs,'' the Foreign Minister says.

While Ottawa seeks to push a broad-based policy with every country in the region, there is the unmistakable impression that a prime focus is going to be in the realm of economics - trade, investments and development. ``We need the region to succeed. Canada's stake in South Asia is only going to grow,'' remarks a senior official during a conversation. And this ``growing stake'' in spite of the recognition of some of the intractable political problems of the sub-continent.

Ottawa's main focus in South Asia would be on India. In fact, getting over the hangups of the last three years, Ottawa and New Delhi are poised to enter a new dimension of the bilateral relations, politically, economically and in terms of Government- to-Government interactions. The formal lifting of sanctions by Canada against India in March has given the momentum to bilateral relations.

Canadian Minister coming

In the next three months, the Canadian Minister of International Trade, Mr. Pierre Pettigrew, is to visit India with a trade mission consisting of at least 100 Canadian companies or even more.

During the six-day visit, he would go to New Delhi, Chennai and Mumbai. ``The timing is excellent and there is a lot of interest'' in the visit, says an official of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Mr. Pettigrew's agenda in India is said to be two fold - policy and trade. The fact that he is visiting India prior to the next Ministerial of the World Trade Organisation in Doha has significance even if there are differences between New Delhi and Ottawa on a number of matters, including the need for a New Round of Multilateral Trade Talks. The meeting with high-level officials and leaders by Mr. Pettigrew aside, Canadian businesses will be interested in actively looking at and sourcing Indian markets, it is said.

The Canadian Minister's one-day visit to Chennai, now slated for October 10, has importance as well. On the one hand it is seen as an opportunity to see first hand what Tamil Nadu is all about and in its potential. And this in some ways is expected to go the distance in convincing the necessary authorities in Ottawa for the establishment of a full-fledged Canadian Consulate in Chennai, an idea that has been on the cards for quite sometime. How all this would materialise will depend to a large extent on the response of Tamil Nadu as well.

More immediately Ottawa is focussed on the bilateral meeting Mr. Manley would have with India's Minister for External Affairs and Defence, Mr. Jaswant Singh, in Hanoi on the sidelines of the ASEAN Regional Forum gathering. Officials here say that Mr. Manley and Mr. Singh have had a ``very cordial'' exchange of letters and the hope is that this meeting in Vietnam will lead to an exchange of visits of the Foreign Ministers. Mr. Manley is expected to be in India by January of next year and Mr. Singh perhaps even earlier in Canada.

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