India-Canada Relations Political relations: In Canada, India is represented by the High Commission of India in Ottawa and th e Consulate General

of India in Toronto and Vancouver. In India, Canada is represented by the Canadian High Commission in New Delhi and the Consulate General of Canada in Chandigarh, Chennai and Mumbai. India established diplomatic relations with Canada in 1947. India and Canada hav e longstanding bilateral relationship based on shared democratic values, the multi -cultural, multiethnic and multi-religious nature of two societies and strong people-to-people contacts . In recent years, both countries have been working to enhance bilateral cooperation in a number of areas of mutual importance.Several high level visits including at PM levels, have been exchanged during recent years. India and Canada pursue bilateral relations through the mechanisms of annual For eign Office Consultations, Trade Policy Consultations, Strategic Dialogue and meeting s of Science & Technology Committee, Joint Working Group on Counter-terrorism, Environment Fo rum, Energy Forum, Steering Committee on Mining and Earth Sciences; Joint Working Gro ups on Pulses, Plant Protection, Health, Agriculture and SPS issues etc. India and Canada have signed several agreements including the Air Services Agreement, Extradition Treaty, Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty, Agreement on Pate nts, Agreement on Cooperation in Agriculture, Agreement on Science and Technology and Environment Cooperation, Nuclear Cooperation Agreement, MOU on Cooperation in En ergy, MOU on cooperation in Mining and Earth Sciences, MOU on Cooperation in Higher Ed ucation, MOU on Cultural Cooperation, and MOU on Cooperation in Intelligent Transport Sys tems. Agreements/MOUs under negotiation are: Foreign Investment Promotion Agreement (FIPA), Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA), Audio-Visual CoProduction Treaty, MOU on ICT, MOU on Traditional Medicines; MOU/POC on Administ rative Reforms. Agreements ready to be signed are: Social Security Agreement and Transf er of Prisoners Agreement. . Among other agreements signed include MOU for India Chair at Canada-India Centre of Excellence at Carleton University, MoU between Indian and Canadian Public Servic e Commissions for sharing experiences and expertise in Civil Services matters, MoU between Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) and the Canadian Institute of Health R esearch (CIHR) to establish new and/or strengthen existing collaborations in special hea lth related fields of research, etc. Separate MOUs on Mines and Mineral resources have been signed with the provinces of Saskatchewan, British Columbia, and Ontario & Quebec. Commercial relations: The India Canada CEOs Roundtable has been upgraded to a CEOs Forum. An annualised Trade Ministers dialogue has been established. Both sides are engaged

in technical negotiations for a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (free trade) including trade in goods, services, investment, trade facilitation etc. Separate MOUs exist with implementation mechanisms to advance relations in the fields of energy, mining, agriculture etc. Annualised Trade Policy Consultations are held to review economic relations . Air India and Jet Airways operate air services to Canada. State Bank of India, I CICI Bank, Government of India Tourist Office, Air India and Jet Airways has offices in Canada. Many renowned Indian companies have presence in Canada such as Tata, Aditya Birl a, Reliance, Wipro, Infosys, TCS, Essar, etc. Canada has established Trade Offices in Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Chandigarh, Chennai, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Mumbai and New Delhi. Reputed Canadian companies su ch as Bombardier, SNC Lavalin, CAE, Inc., etc. have a strong presence in India. Trade: Bilateral trade during the calendar year of 2011 crossed US$ 5 billion ma rk. India s exports to Canada in 2011 were up 25 per cent and imports from Canada registered an increase of 31.7 per cent over 2010. Total bilateral trade during 2011 registere d 28.35 per cent increase over the previous year. India-Canada Bilateral Trade during 2006-2011 (January-December) [Figures in billion US Dollars] Details 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 India s Exports to Canada 1.692 1.841 2.065 1.754 2.064 2.581 India s Imports from Canada 1.477 1.667 2.268 1.881 2.024 2.635 Total 3.169 3.508 4.333 3.635 4.088 5.216 [Source: Statistics Canada] Major Items of Indian Exports are: Medicines, Garments, diamonds, chemicals, gem s and jewellery, petroleum oils, made-up, sea food, engineering goods, marble and gran ite, knitted garments, rice, electric equipment, plastic products, etc. Major items of Canada s export to India are: Pulses, fertilizers, newsprint, aircraf ts & aviation equipment, diamonds, copper ores and concentrates, bituminous coal, woo d pulp, nickel, unwrought aluminum, asbestos, god, cameras, lumber, ferrous waste, etc. Investments: The stock of two-way direct investment between India and Canada is as under: [Figures in million Canadian Dollars] 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 Canadian Direct Investment in India 319 677 506 785 601 500 Indian Direct Investment in Canada 171 211 Unavailable 2,667 2,972 6,600 Total 490 888 506 3,452 3,573 7,100 [Source: Government of Canada] Canadian investors are present in the Indian banking; insurance and financial se rvices

sectors, as also in engineering and consultancy services. Canadian investment in India has targeted telecommunications, environment, energy and mining. Indian investment i n Canada has increased steadily in the recent years, especially in the information techno logy, software and natural resources sectors. A Bilateral Investment Promotion Agreement is und er negotiation. Cultural relations: Year of India 2011 in Canada (YOI): Pursuant to the announcement made by Indian and Canadian Prime Ministers in November 2009, the Year of India 2011 was organi zed in different cities of Canada which included multi sectoral events such as cultural shows, Writers festivals, film festivals, food festivals, trade shows, Education Summit , Innovation Summit, PBD-Canada, LKA s Moderns Exhibition, Eminent lecture series, installation o f Gandhi statues, Tagore anniversary etc. The Rt Hon Stephen Harper, Prime Ministe r of Canada officiated at both the inaugural and the closing ceremonies of YOI. Among the Indian dignitaries who officiated at various YOI events included Ms. Preneet Kau r, Minister of State for External Affairs, Dr. D Purandeswari, MOS (HRD), Mr. Arun Maira, Membe r, Planning Commission, Dr. R.Chidambaram, Principal Scientific Advisor to Governme nt of India, CMs of Jharkhand and Nagaland, and Mr. Suresh Prabhu, former Minister of Power. In the Education field, the Shastri Indo-Canadian Institute (SICI) was founded i n 1968 to promote academic relations mainly through funding research and linking academic institutions in the two countries; as of today, 50 universities from India and 40 from Canada are members of the Institute. SICI broadly meets its objective by promoting Canadian Studies in India and Indian Studies in Canada. ICCR has sanctioned India Chairs for 5 Canadian universities (Carleton. McGill, York, Toronto, Macmaster). India specific centres have been set up in Canadian Univers ities, the most prominent being the Canada India Centre of Excellence at Carleton, Ottawa s Cap ital University. Over 300 MOUs exist between Canadian and Indian higher education ins titutions for collaborative research and exchange programmes. As on 2011, approx 12,000 Indian students are studying in various Canadian universities/colleges. India is the fourth largest source of foreign students in Canada after China, Korea and the US. Indian community: Canada is home to 962,670 Persons of Indian origin (2006 Census): 50% are Sikhs, 39% Hindus, and the remainder is Muslim, Christian, Jain, Buddhist, etc. A major ity of PIOs live in Greater Toronto Area, Greater Vancouver Area, Montreal and Calgary. There are 9 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 Parli

amentary Secretary to the Foreign Minister. Prominent Indo-Canadian bodies include Canada India Business Council (CIBC), Canada India Foundation (CIF) and several other local chambers and associations. July 2012