Candian Prime Minister Stephen Harper invited a group of 16 Indo-Canadian business leaders and professionals for round table discussion on June 14. Hiis office chose Swaminarayan Mandir, a landmark in Toronto, as the venue for this closed-door meeting.
This was a first conference of its kind since Harper became the prime minister in January 2006.
Among the participants were Deepak Obhrai, parliamentary secretary to Foreign Affairs Minister Peter MacKay and Jason Kenney, secretary of state (multiculturalism and Canadian identity).
In an exclusive telephone interview with rediff.com on June 19, Kenney, who is the right hand man of Harper claimed it was a very productive meeting.
He called the round table 'excellent'.
The meeting "was an opportunity to focus on Indo-Canadian business community, and on trade and economic issues. However, we also discussed broader issues of the Indian Diaspora in Canada," Kenney said.
Harper 'made some insightful remarks when he said that often when he meets with people in the business community, it tends to be with people of the European descent and very rarely the people of Asian origin', he added.
Harper put great emphasis on Canada-India bilateral relations, what he termed as Canada's 'rowing focus on India.'
Harper, he said, also referred to the finalisation of the Foreign Investment Protection Agreement.
All 16 participants were given a chance to speak. Issues that came up included how Canada could 'engage and exploit economic opportunities in India, need to continually improve political relationship with India,' said Kenney.
"Prime Minister himself brought up the nuclear issue of the 1970s, that it is a long-term hang over. He also acknowledged that it appears to be moving towards resolution and would be an advantage," Kenney said.
This nuclear issue has been an irritant, Harper admitted and he also "made a note of the American discussion with India on this question.".
Anju Virmani, chief information officer of Cargojet, was also among the invitees. She told rediff.com that the meeting was called to let the Indo-Canadian community see how the community presented itself, how it can be a catalyst to bring India and Canada together and create awareness about each other's country.
"A lot of the mainstream people don't understand India. Hence Indian business leaders could be helpful in promoting awareness and Indian Diaspora can actually contribute to its public policy. That's what the meeting was about," she said.
In terms of relations with India, Harper told business leaders that he has invited Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to Canada. "They haven't been able to work out a date yet," said Kenney.
"Canada is punching far below its weight in India, in economic and commercial terms, and we are not realising the kind of trade opportunities (that are now there in India) we ought to," Harper was quoted to have said.
He suggested that the business leaders of Indian Diaspora should be a key link between the two countries in developing trade links. He encouraged them to be more focussed and better organised.
"It was a very fruitful discussion," Kenney claimed and his words were echoed by other business leaders.
Kenney revealed that this round table exercise would be held with Indo-Canadian business leaders and professionals in Montreal, Vancouver and probably in Calgary too.
Those who were invited for the meeting included Hari Panday, President and CEO of ICICI Bank (Canada), Ajit Khanna, president of Indo-Canada Chamber of Commerce, Prashant Pathak of ReichmanHauer Capital Partners, Surjit Babara, president of SkyLink, Steve Gupta, hotelier, Ramesh Chotai, president, Bromed Pharmaceuticals, etc.
All ears: Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper (third from right) with business leaders.
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