Trudeau’s India visit was unqualified success: Indian High Commissioner

By Gurmukh Singh

Toronto, March 7 (IANS) Downplaying what he called the "distractions around the visit of Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to India", Indian High Commissioner Vikas Swarup has said the visit was actually an "unqualified success".

Speaking at a reception for Indian Minister for Mines Narendra Singh Tomar, who is leading the Indian delegation for the PDAC International Convention here, Swarup said earlier this week that the language in the joint statement issued after Trudeau's meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi showed their strong resolve to deepen the relationship.

Trudeau was warmly received by Modi and the two leaders had a great meeting, said Swarup at the reception hosted by the Indian consulate and the Indo-Canada Chamber of Commerce (ICCC).

Calling Trudeau's visit an "unqualified success", Swarup said Tomar's visit here within a week of Trudeau's India trip was a "manifestation of the seriousness with which India views its relations with Canada".

"This shows how serious we are about developing relations with Canada," said Swarup.

"It is a complementary relationship and the joint statement is the blueprint to bring to fruition the vision that the two Prime Ministers had for the relationship," he said.

Tomar, who met his Canadian counterparts, said: "Just one week after Trudeau's visit, my coming to PDAC International Convention shows India's commitment to its relationship with Canada."

Highlighting the 100 per cent Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) allowed in the mining sector by the Modi government, the Minister said: "India has an area of 800,000 square km with a huge potential for mining. But only very small area has been mined. India has put geological data in public domain to show the potential of mining in the country."

Tomar lauded the role of the Indo-Canada Chamber of Commerce for promoting not only business relations but also people-to-people, political and cultural relations between the two countries.

ICCC president Kanwar Dhanjal, who led a business delegation to India a couple of months ago and was also in India as part of Trudeau's delegation, said the visit of the Indian Minister confirmed the deepening business ties between the two countries.

Indian Consul General Dinesh Bhatia said: "Canada is a world leader in mining and the top source of 13 minerals, including potash, nickle, uranium and tungsten, which are very crucial for India."

(Gurmukh Singh can be contacted at gurmukh100@gmail.com)