Canada’s four priorities to boost ties with India

New Delhi, December 15

Canada is going into the New Year with four resolutions regarding its relationship with India, Canada’s Deputy High Commissioner Amanda Strohan said on Thursday.

The first is to back India’s Presidency of the G20 and in this respect Strohan referred to the conversation last week between Canadian Foreign Minister Mélanie Joly and her Indian counterpart S Jaishankar during which they spoke of advancing “our shared interests as India chairs the G20 next year”.

The second is a greater role for India in Canada’s new Indo-Pacific Strategy which was released last month.

The strategy has five interconnected strategic objectives. India finds place in four—dealing with environment, supply chains, people to people contacts and trade. India does not find a prominent mention in the objective of “Promoting peace, resilience, and security” where ASEAN nations, Japan and Korea, besides Australia are mentioned.

Of the $2.3 billion investment announced by Canada under this strategy, $720 million should be allocated on this account.

The third, said Strohan, was progress in negotiations on a Canada-India Early Progress Trade Agreement (EPTA) as a precursor to a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA). Canada is also keen on investment protection to improve predictability and transparency for Canadian investors in India.

The fourth was the move to strengthen people-to-people ties with Canada, home to over 12 lakh Persons of Indian Origin (PIO) who comprise more than 3 per cent of its population.