Trudeau’s visit could help overcome irritants in ties
TORONTO: A flourishing relationship between India and Canada ought to be a no-brainer given the common threads that run through the two democracies. Instead, this underperforming engagement continues to be a head-scratcher for analysts on both sides.
That could change with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s visit to India in February. After an underwhelming trip to China where Beijing turned down an offer to start work on a free trade pact, the Canadian leader could be far more motivated to deepen bilateral ties.
More importantly, it could provide impetus to a relationship that has lagged behind after starting off with plenty of energy in the early months of Trudeau taking charge of the government.
“We just had three ministers from Canada in India in November and I think that was a very successful visit. It’s always a great lead-up to a prime ministerial visit because it sets the agenda in many ways,” said Stewart Beck, President and CEO of the Vancouver-based Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada.
“India and the Indian market of a billion plus people, growing 7% a year, and being able to diversify and expand our trading relationship, is really quite critical.”
Beck, who had earlier served as the Canadian high commissioner to India, said such highprofile encounters allow the principals to overcome obstacles.
“From my experience, we had two visits prior to the prime minister (Stephen Harper) in 2012 and they helped set the framework for a lot of the work we did around nuclear, the agreement around administrative arrangements and ultimately it resulted in the sale of uranium to India.”
Ramesh Sangha, Liberal Party MP from Brampton Centre, seconds that optimistic view.
“It will be a big thing because we want to have good relations between both the countries. My feeling is that both sides are interested,” said Sangha. “It will be a good step in making progress. It’s the need of the day today.”
A pair of bilateral trade and investment pacts will be discussed and there is hope that at least one may emerge as a tangible deliverable. “My hope is we can settle on language between now and the time of the prime minister’s visit,” Beck said.
The major roadblock to smooth ties has been the resurgence of the Khalistan movement in Canada and what is perceived in India as Ottawa ignoring the separatists on its territory.
That may be a matter Trudeau will have to directly deal with. “I think he has to indicate to his Indian counterparts that this is not the case, this is not something that’s being supported at the governmental level,” Beck said.