India asks Canada to ease visa rules

India has urged Canada to ease visa regulations to facilitate its student community and boost trade and employment opportunities.

"The process of issuing visas to Indian students, businessmen, and professionals should be more flexible and less time consuming," Shyamala B Cowsik, the Indian High Commissioner to Canada said at a function organised by Canada-India Business Council to mark Diwali.

Over 200 top executives of various Canadian companies attended the function.

Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty, who was the chief guest on the occasion, said the state government of the second largest Canadian province would soon open a permanent trade centre in New Delhi to expand and strengthen commercial and economic relations.

The centre would help Canadian entrepreneurs in finding matching partners, and establishing business in India and vice versa as enormous opportunities await for entrepreneurs in both countries.

Asking Canadian companies to invest in India, the Indian high commissioner said the country was emerging as a prime location for outsourcing of financial, technological and manufacturing processes.

Besides, major investment opportunities were there in oil and gas, hydro, and other forms of energy, mining, construction, transportation, telecommunications, environmental technologies, food processing, biotechnology, pharmaceuticals, and information technology, she said.

Cowsik also asked the Indian community to take initiatives to market the country in Canada by initialising at least one venture in India.

Cowsik said Prime Minister Manmohan Singh would visit Canada next year. "The visit is aimed at intensifying and strengthening cooperation in a number of areas such as political, economic and cultural," she said.