Canada- India relations
This is a collection of articles archived for the excellence of their content. |
Contents |
Relations, in brief
India-Canada share a strategic partnership underpinned by shared values of democracy and pluralism. These have expanded significantly in recent years aided by heightened economic engagement, regular high level interactions and long-standing people-to-people ties.
Nuclear energy
The Nuclear Cooperation Agreement (NCA), which was signed in June 2010, came into force in September 2013.The Appropriate Arrangement (AA) for the NCA was signed in March 2013, under which a Joint Committee on Civil Nuclear Cooperation was constituted. It held its first meeting in Mumbai on 29 November, 2013. The 2nd meeting was held in Ottawa in November 2014. On 15thApril 2015, the Department of Atomic Energy signed a $350 million contract with Cameco, a Saskatoon-based company, to purchase 7 million pounds of uranium concentrate over the next 5 years. The first shipment arrived in India in December 2015.
Science & Technology and space
India and Canada have been cooperating since 1990s in the areas of space science, earth observation, satellite launch services and ground support for space missions.ISRO and CSA (Canadian Space Agency) have signed MOUs for cooperation in the field of exploration and utilization of outer space and two Implementation Arrangements specifically addressing satellite tracking and space astronomy.ANTRIX, the Commercial arm of ISRO, has launched nine nanosatellite under a commercial arrangement with University of Toronto - Institute of Aerospace Studies (UTIAS).ANTRIX also launched a microsatellite SAPPHIRE (commercial contract with MacDonald, Dettwiler& Associates (MDA), Canada and NEOSSat (contract with Microsat Systems, Canada) as auxiliary satellites on the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV-C20) in February 2013.The PSLV-C23, which was launched in June 2014 carried two Canadian satellites, CanX-4 and CanX-5, from the University of Toronto's Institute for Aerospace Studies Space Flight Laboratory.
Diaspora
Indian Diaspora
The Diaspora is well represented in federal Parliament and provincial legislatures. In the present House of Commons (elections held on 19 October 2015), there are 21 MPs of Indian origin (up from 9). Four PIOs now hold Cabinet berths (up from two of Ministers of State in the last Cabinet).Prominent Indo-Canadian organisations include Canada India Business Council (CIBC), Canada India Foundation (CIF), Indo-Canada Chamber of Commerce (I-CCC) and other local chambers and associations.
Diplomatic visits
2018, Canadian PM Justin Trudeau's visit to India
Some Canadians feel India snubbed Trudeau
Shailaja Neelakantan, February 19, 2018: The Times of India
Is the Centre snubbing Justin Trudeau on his India visit? Some Canadians believe so
HIGHLIGHTS
PM Narendra Modi did not go to the airport to receive the Canadian head of state
UP CM Adityanath did not accompany the Trudeaus on their visit to the Taj Mahal
Trudeau is today scheduled to visit Gujarat, and his itinerary includes a trip to the Sabarmati Ashram
The event of the visit has barely created a ripple, and many Canadians think that's because New Delhi is very openly snubbing him over his perceived support for Sikh separatists in his country.
For one, PM Narendra Modi did not go to the airport to receive the Canadian head of state. Candice Malcolm, a columnist for the Canadian publication Toronto Sun, pointed out the stark contrast between how other heads of state have been received in India versus how Trudeau has not.
As if that wasn't bad enough, whom did the Centre send to the airport to receive Trudeau? Junior agriculture minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, who is, as one Canadian put it, like a (mere) "parliamentary secretary in Canada".
Then, Trudeau, his wife Sophie Gregoire Trudeau, and their three children visited the Taj Mahal yesterday while Uttar Pradesh chief minister Adityanath was nowhere in sight. A scant month ago, when Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited the Taj, the UP CM personally showed him around. But all the Trudeaus got were the Agra district magistrate and some other local administrators.
Many say that the Centre's absence of pomp and ceremony is an indication of its displeasure with Trudeau for appointing Cabinet ministers with links allegedly to the Sikh separatist movement.
Trudeau has four Sikh cabinet ministers - Harjit Sajjan, Amarjeet Sohi, Navdeep Bains and Bardish Chagger. Sohi said earlier this month that he's neither sympathetic to nor against the Khalistan movement.
"If there is a small segment of people in Canada who talk about separation, who talk about the creation of Khalistan if they do that in a peaceful way that is their right to do so but this is not an issue that I hear in the community," said Sohi.
Canadian columnist Malcolm did not take kindly to this statement. She wondered whether newcomers to Canada were "entitled" to support foreign extremist organizations.
Malcolm believes Trudeau must denounce Khalistani extremists publicly, while in India, and should apologize to Amarinder. Another Canadian opposition leader, Jagmeet Singh, must also "denounce Khalistani radicals", she added.
Amarinder has said he has no problem meeting with Trudeau, but added they won't meet with some ministers in his cabinet because they "have negative views regarding Punjab". It's still not certain whether an Amarinder-Trudeau meet is on the cards when the Trudeaus visit Amritsar's Golden Temple.
Until then, it appears Trudeau will be met with "about the same enthusiasm as (a) malarian mosquito", as a Canadian policy advisor described the low-profile reception Trudeau has got thus far.
Trudeau is today scheduled to visit Gujarat, and his itinerary includes trips to the Sabarmati Ashram, the Akshardham Temple and IIM Ahmedabad.
Education
Over 100,000/- Indian students study in Canada. Education is a key area of collaboration between the two countries. The MOU on Cooperation in Higher Education was signed in June 2010, which covers student and faculty exchange, research and curriculum development, organization of workshop and seminars, twining between institutions of higher learning, facilitate mutual recognition of educational qualifications, policy dialogue in areas of mutual interest, among others.
IC-IMPACTS (the India-Canada Centre for Innovative Multidisciplinary Partnerships to Accelerate Community Transformation and Sustainability), which is a Canada-India Research Centre of Excellence dedicated to the development of research collaborations between Canada and India, seeks to bring together researchers, industry innovators, community leaders, government agencies, and community organizations from across India and Canada to work together to find solutions to the key challenges facing the communities. IC-IMPACTS is working with the National Mission for Clean Ganga to find innovative technological solutions to clean the river Ganga; the 'Water for Health' collaboration with Department of Biotechnology and with DST on 'Safe and Sustainable Infrastructure' and 'Integrated Water-Management' initiatives.
Visas issued to Indians
See graphic:
Fast-track visas approved by Canada, for Indians and others, June- Sept 2017
From: December 20, 2017: The Times of India
