India- Relations

Political relations: In Canada, India is represented by the High Commission of India in and the Consulate General of India in Toronto and . In India, Canada is represented by the Canadian High Commission in New Delhi; the Consulate General of Canada in Chandigarh, Chennai, Mumbai and a Consulate in Bangalore. India established diplomatic relations with Canada in 1947. India and Canada have longstanding bilateral relationship based on shared democratic values, the multi-cultural, multi- ethnic and multi-religious nature of two societies and strong people-to-people contacts. In recent years, both countries have been working to enhance bilateral cooperation in a number of areas of mutual importance. Several high level visits have been exchanged during recent years including at PM levels: Prime Minister of Canada visited India in 2009 and 2012; Dr. Manmohan Singh, Prime Minister of India visited Canada in 2010. India and Canada pursue bilateral relations through the mechanisms of annual Foreign Office Consultations, Strategic Dialogue, Joint Working Group on Counter-terrorism, Science & Technology Committee, Environment Forum, Energy Forum, Steering Committee on Mining and Earth Sciences; Joint Working Groups on ICTE, Education, Pulses, Plant Protection, Health, Agriculture and SPS issues etc. India and Canada have signed several agreements including the Air Services Agreement, Extradition Treaty, Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty, Agreement on Patents, Agreement on Cooperation in Agriculture, Agreement on Science and Technology and Environment Cooperation, Nuclear Cooperation Agreement, Social Security Agreement, MOU on Cooperation in Energy, MOU on cooperation in Mining and Earth Sciences, MOU on Cooperation in Higher Education, MOU on Cultural Cooperation, MOU on Cooperation in Intelligent Transport Systems and MOU on Cooperation in ICTE. Agreements/MOUs under negotiation are: Foreign Investment Promotion Agreement (FIPA), Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA), and Audio-Visual Co-Production Treaty. Agreements ready to be signed include Transfer of Prisoners Agreement. . Among other agreements signed include MOU for India Chair at Canada-India Centre of Excellence at Carleton University, MOU between Indian and Canadian Public Service Commissions for sharing experiences and expertise in Civil Services matters, MOU between Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) and the Canadian Institute of Health Research (CIHR) to establish new and/or strengthen existing collaborations in special health related fields of research, etc. Separate MOUs on Mines and Mineral resources have been signed with the provinces of Saskatchewan, , Ontario & . DRDO has signed MOU with for R&D in E-Warn. Commercial relations: The India Canada CEOs Roundtable has been upgraded to a CEOs Forum. An annualised Trade Ministers dialogue has been institutionalised to review trade and economic relations. Both sides are engaged in technical negotiations for a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) including trade in goods, services, investment, trade facilitation etc. Separate MOUs exist with implementation mechanisms to advance relations in the fields of energy, mining, agriculture etc. Air India (currently suspended) and Jet Airways operate air services to Canada. State Bank of India, ICICI Bank, Government of India Tourist Office, Air India and Jet Airways has offices in Canada. Many renowned Indian companies have presence in Canada such as Tata, Aditya Birla, Reliance, Wipro, Infosys, TCS, Essar, etc. Canada has established Trade Offices in Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Chandigarh, Chennai, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Mumbai and New Delhi. Reputed Canadian companies such as Bombardier, SNC Lavalin, CAE, Inc., etc. have a strong presence in India. Trade: Bilateral trade during the calendar year of 2011 crossed US$ 5 billion mark. India’s exports to Canada in 2011 were up 25 per cent and imports from Canada registered an increase of 31.7 per cent over 2010. Total bilateral trade during 2011 registered 28.35 per cent increase over the previous year: [Figures in billion US Dollars]

Details 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011

India’s Exports 1.692 1.841 2.065 1.754 2.064 2.581

India’s Imports 1.477 1.667 2.268 1.881 2.024 2.635

Total 3.169 3.508 4.333 3.635 4.088 5.216

[Source: Statistics Canada] Major Items of Indian Exports are: Medicines, Garments, diamonds, chemicals, gems and jewellery, petroleum oils, made-up, sea food, engineering goods, marble and granite, knitted garments, rice, electric equipment, plastic products, etc. Major items of Canada’s export to India are: Pulses, fertilizers, newsprint, aircrafts & aviation equipment, diamonds, copper ores and concentrates, bituminous coal, wood pulp, nickel, unwrought aluminum, asbestos, god, cameras, lumber, ferrous waste, etc. The stock of two-way direct investment between India and Canada is as under: [Figures in million Canadian Dollars]

2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011

Canadian FDI in India 319 677 506 667 520 676 587

Indian FDI in Canada 171 211 1,988 6,514 6,217 4,364 4,396

Total 490 888 2,494 7,181 6,737 5,040 4,983

[Source: Government of Canada] Canadian investors are present in the Indian banking; insurance and financial services sectors, as also in engineering and consultancy services. Canadian investment in India has targeted telecommunications, environment, energy and mining. Indian investment in Canada has increased steadily in the recent years, especially in the information technology, software and natural resources sectors. A Bilateral Investment Promotion Agreement is under negotiation. Cultural relations: Year of India 2011 in Canada (YOI): Pursuant to the announcement made by Indian and Canadian Prime Ministers in November 2009, the Year of India 2011 was organized in different cities of Canada which included multi sectoral events such as cultural shows, Writers festivals, film festivals, food festivals, trade shows, Education Summit, Innovation Summit, PBD-Canada, LKA’s Moderns Exhibition, Eminent lecture series, installation of Gandhi statues, Tagore anniversary etc. The Rt Hon Stephen Harper, officiated at both the inaugural and the closing ceremonies of YOI. Among the Indian dignitaries who officiated at various YOI events included Ms. Preneet Kaur, Minister of State for External Affairs, Dr. D. Purandeswari, MOS (HRD), Mr. Arun Maira, Member, Planning Commission, Dr. R. Chidambaram, Principal Scientific Advisor to Government of India, CMs of Jharkhand and Nagaland, and Mr. Suresh Prabhu, former Minister of Power. In the Education field, the Shastri Indo-Canadian Institute (SICI) was founded in 1968 to promote academic relations mainly through funding research and linking academic institutions in the two countries; as of today, 50 universities from India and 40 from Canada are members of the Institute. SICI broadly meets its objective by promoting Canadian Studies in India and Indian Studies in Canada. MOU on Educational cooperation has been signed with the Government of Canada. ICCR has sanctioned India Chairs for 5 Canadian universities (Carleton. McGill, York, Toronto, McMaster). India specific centres have been set up in Canadian Universities, the most prominent being the Canada India Centre of Excellence at Carleton, Ottawa. Over 300 MOUs exist between Canadian and Indian higher education institutions for collaborative research and exchange programmes. Bilateral Education Summit was held in Ottawa in June 2011. There are approx. 23,000 Indian students currently in Canada which makes India the second largest source of foreign students after South Korea. Indian community: Canada is home to 962,670 Persons of Indian origin (2006 Census): 50% are Sikhs, 39% Hindus, and the remainder is Muslim, Christian, Jain, Buddhist, etc. A majority of PIOs live in Greater Toronto Area, Greater Vancouver Area, and Calgary. (Unofficial figures place the number of PIOs currently in Canada at 1.2m). There are 9 Indo-Canadian MPs in the House of Commons and one in the Senate. Two PIO MPs are Ministers of State in the Federal government and one PIO MP is Parliamentary Secretary to the Foreign Minister. Prominent Indo-Canadian bodies include Canada India Business Council (CIBC), Canada India Foundation (CIF) and several other local chambers and associations. **** January 2013