By Gurmukh Singh, IANS,
Toronto : Canada is to open new trade offices in Kolkata and Hyderabad and appoint more trade commissioners to deepen economic relations with India.
Announcing this at the Canada-India Foundation gala dinner where Indian Knowledge Commission chairman Sam Pitroda was honoured with the Global Indian Award, Prime Minister Stephen Harper said: “We simply as a country cannot afford to miss out on India’s phenomenal growth.
“That’s why our government is putting so much emphasis on improving trade and investment and other linkages between our two countries. Our government is preparing to open trade offices in two emerging commercial centres of India.”
Harper said: “In Andhra Pradesh, we will be opening an office in Hyderabad. You know it better as gateway to southern India’s information communication technology hub.
“And on the east bank of the river Hooghly, the doors to another office will soon swing open in Kolkata, the main business, commercial, financial and transportation centre of eastern India.”
The prime minister also announced the appointment of more trade commissioners in Mumbai and New Delhi.
“India’s boom is not just happening in the northern region, and Canada needs to be where all the action is,” he said.
Urging Canadians to know more about one of the world’s emerging economic superpowers, he said the Canada-India Foundation (CIF) could play a pivotal role in bringing the two countries together.
The prime minister said India-Canada relations were rooted in their common heritage: parliamentary democracy, a federal system, legal codes and the use of English language.
Paying tributes to India’s pluralism, he said: “India has been working on pluralism for over 5,000 years. India is succeeding and I suggest you it is succeeding for one reason above all others – its embrace of pluralism. This embrace is at the heart of India.”
Because of this, Harper added, India will emerge not only as an economic superpower but also as a force of stability in the world.
In his speech, former Indian president A.P.J. Abdul Kalam said India was growing by eight percent and soon the rate will touch 10 percent.
It was well on its way fulfilling his vision of becoming a developed nation by 2020, he added.
Summing up his vision 2020 for India, he said it meant a nation which provided access to energy and quality water for all, where no one was denied education because of social or economic discrimination, which is the best destination for the most talented, where the government is responsive and corruption-free, and which is peaceful and continues on the growth path.
Sam Pitroda accepted the first Global Indian Award jointly from Harper and Kalam. Sponsored by Toronto businessman Vasu Chanchlani, it is known as the CIF Chanchlani Global Indian Award and carries $50,000 in cash and a trophy.