Diplomacy

Rock star-like welcome for Modi in Canada: Envoy Nadir Patel

- by India Writes Network

Home to one of the world’s largest populations of overseas Indians, 1.2 million strong Indian diaspora in Canada keep their adopted country humming with their energy, enterprise and ideas. In fact, India and Indians are omnipresent in this North American country. And they are with you right from the time you leave the airport and take a taxi driven by a Sikh chauffeur, visit bustling markets, or have an appointment with one of the business chambers. The Indian community is now moving up the ladder in parliament and the government. There are eight 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.
India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi is set to connect with this vibrant Indian community at Toronto’s Ricoh Coliseum on April 16. It promises to be a blockbuster spectacle as Mr Modi does an encore of his famous Madison Square address in New York in September last year.
In this wide-ranging conversation with Manish Chand, Editor-in-Chief, India Writes Network (www.iniawrites.org), Canada’s High commissioner to India Nadir Patel, the first Canadian envoy of Indian origin posted in New Delhi, outlines multifarious role of the Indian diaspora in Canada and predicts that Modi can expect a rock star welcome in Canada. The envoy also raises the bar for the dynamic India-Canada relations and speaks about the future trajectory of this win-win relationship.

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Modi visit will map out future of Indo-Canada relations: Canada envoy

- by India Writes Network

India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s April 14-16 to Canada is bristling with possibilities and could be historic in opening new avenues for India-Canada relations. Canada’s High commissioner to India Nadir Patel spoke to Manish Chand, Editor-in-Chief, India Writes Network (www.iniawrites.org) on Ottawa’s expectations from Prime Minister Modi’s visit to Canada, the prospects of a uranium deal between the two countries, the upswing in economic relationship and myriad ways in which Canada and Canadian companies can contribute to the success of the Make in India project.

(Excerpts from the interview)

Q) This is the first standalone bilateral prime ministerial visit by an Indian Prime minister in over four decades. How is Canada looking at this visit and what are your broad expectations?A) Canada is extremely excited about hosting Prime Minister Modi. I think it’s a tremendous opportunity to further advance and build on the strong Canada-India relationship. Our expectations are high for this relationship and they are high of the Modi government, in terms of the number of initiatives that are underway now. We look forward to this visit and hope it will be very productive and a fruitful one, in setting the stage for the future.

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Make in India Lion finds willing partner in the German Eagle

- by India Writes Network

India’s Prime Minister Modi and German Chancellor Angela Merkel have firmed up a roadmap for a new accelerated phase in India-Germany strategic partnership across the spectrum.
The joint statement at the end of the talks in Berlin underlined that the common objective was to “encourage greater synergies between German engineering, experience in sustainable development, innovation and skills, and the new opportunities available in India and through ‘Make in India’, ‘Clean India’, ‘Digital India’ and other initiatives towards achieving economic growth and sustainable development”.
The visit saw Mr Modi pitch hard for German cooperation in reviving Indian manufacturing and stressing that India’s need for technology, skill upgradation, investment and innovation were a solid business opportunity for German firms to make lucrative investments. Both sides vowed to foster stronger ties between business and industry on both sides in order to support India’s ‘Make in India’ initiative by utilizing the momentum generated by India’s participation in the Hannover Messe.
The talks held in Berlin covered a wide range of issues, and collaborations across manufacturing, green energy, urban development, river cleaning and rejuvenation, railways upgradation, education, R&D, and scientific and technical cooperation, were sought to make the Strategic Partnership enter a “new and intensive” phase.

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