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Mission: India, Canada bhai-bhai
With India being projected as a future superpower, Canada has developed a keen interest in closer ties with it, writes Gurmukh Singh.
The official-level visits between India and Canada were far and few between during the years Canada kept nuclear embargo on India after the Pokhran tests in May 1998, though many top-level Indo-Canadian leaders at that time had tried to convince Ottawa against taking that step.
After Ottawa "reconciled'' itself to India's nuclear status, the relationship between the countries has been on the upswing. This year alone, there have been three high-level visits from Canada to India -- the first one being by Prime Minister Paul Martin who visited New Delhi in January after the deadly tsunami struck South-east Asia. At that time, the two PMs had signed a joint statement to impart impetus to Indo-Canadian economic ties.
This visit was followed by the Canada Trade Mission, led by its international trade minister.
As a follow-up, this week international trade minister James Peterson again leads more than 100 delegates to the 11th Technology Summit and Technology Platform- 2005 which is being jointly organised by the Department of Science and Technology and the Confederation of Indian Industries (CII). The summit begins in Bangalore on September 19 and ends in New Delhi on September 22.
Aimed at fostering strategic ties between the two countries in many areas, including joint ventures in R & D, tech transfer and investment in science and tech fields, the summit will have leaders from top research and development institutions, academe, industry and government in Canada.
Apart from trade minister Peterson himself, Canadian national science adviser Arthur Carty too is coming.
Well, what are they really discussing?
Among the main areas of discussion include biotechnology, health research and medical devices. Top Canadian experts and CEOs from Queen's University, medical labs and Ag-West, among others, will dwell upon various issues.
Discussion on nanoscience and nanotechnology will involve advisers from the National Research Council, the Centre for Large Space Structures and Systems and the world famous Concordia University in Montreal.
Another theme is "Sustainable and Alternate Energy and Environmental Technologies." Canadian representatives for it include CubeWerx Inc, the Canadian GeoProjects Centre, Info-Electronics Systems Inc., and PCI Geomatics, all of which have MoUs with India.
In the field of IT, the theme is "Next Generation of Information Technologies" for which Canada is sending representatives from Toon Boom Animation, Telesat Canada and Wi-Lan, among others. Yet another theme is "Earth Sciences and Disaster Mitigation Technologies" at which Dr Tad Murty, tsunami expert and faculty at the University of Ottawa, will be the main participant, as will be Natural Resources Canada representatives.
With India, along with China, being projected as a future superpower, Canada has developed a keen interest in closer ties with it in the areas of science and technology, as is evidence in its new international policy statement which pays significant attention to India. Ottawa also recently released a Canada-India Science and Technology (S&T) Study, showing complementarity between the two in a number of areas -- ranging from bio-sciences and chemistry to physics, earth and space sciences, engineering and technology. This year's budget also a announced new programmes over five years to support new international S&T partnerships with select countries, including India.
With the more than a million-strong Indian community becoming very active in various walks of life in Canada, India should take advantage of what Canada offers in the areas in which it is an undisputed world leader.
It is a world leader in health sciences and clinical research. It is a world leader in biotechnology, with 496 companies -- second in number to that of the US. It is a world leader in information and communications technologies (ICT) industry, with over 32,000 firms with a workforce of 545,000!
And it is a world leader in multimedia and gaming, including animation and special effects, wireless communication, IT security, and software and computer services. In fact, more than 80 per cent of the world's animation and special effects is made possible by Canadian software, and over the past five years, almost every film nominated for an Academy Award in special effects has relied on Canadian expertise. With credits like Jurassic Park, Terminator 2, The Titanic, Gladiator, Lord of the Rings, and Lion King in Canada's Animation portfolio, Canada is the `roaring leader' in this ever evolving creative field!
Trade between the two countries has shown a sharp increase over the past five years. Canada's investment in India and Indian investment in Canada have also increased considerably. Many Indian IT companies have set up offices in Canada.
Montreal's Toon Boom Animation, which won a Primetime Emmy Engineering Award this month and was recognised by FICCI with a lifetime achievement award in 2004, is supporting an education initiative in southern India, in partnership with the Sophia Hilton Foundation of Canada, SICI and the Madras Craft Foundation.
Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited, which is India's largest telecom company, is also expanding its wireless network with technology provided by Nortel. Quebec's BioSyntech Inc. and Nicholas Piramal India have also signed a letter of intent.
India's Airtel service provider and Waterloo-based Research In Motion have introduced the BlackBerry 7100g business phone in India. The BlackBerry 7100g packs all the benefits of BlackBerry into a traditional 'candy bar' phone design.
Communications Research Centre (CRC) at Ottawa has also signed a MoU with Tata Consultancy Services Limited (TCS) to collaborate in telecommunications technologies projects.
The potential for growth in trade and S&T ties between the two countries is huge indeed.
