If we go by a report in the Globe and Mail, when the Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper visits China, he is likely to pay an official visit to India also.
There are already indications that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has invited Harper to be India's chief guest at the forthcoming Republic Day celebrations in New Delhi on January 26. Of course, it depends that Harper's government would be re-elected in October 14 federal vote.
The report in the Canadian daily is based on an exclusive interview that Harper gave to a Chinese language daily in Toronto (Sin Tao) that largely deals with Canada-China relations, larger implications of Harper not visiting China during recently concluded Olympics, and why, since he was elected Prime Minister of Canada in January 2006, he has resisted paying an official visit to China and that's attributed largely to China's human rights record.
'Any trip to China will probably occur in relative proximity to a leader-level visit between Canada and India,' says this report and explains as to how 'the Harper government has expressed great fondness for India given that the South Asian nation shares common values and heritage with Canada as a democracy '
Harper was the chief guest at Indo-Canada Chamber of Commerce luncheon on September 10 when before 500 Indo-Canadian business people and professionals he spoke so fondly of Canada's relations with India and about enormous contributions of Indo-Canadians in various fields.
Subsequently at a media round table on September 16 in Toronto, Harper underlined India's importance to Canada and his good chemistry with India's prime minister and how Canada has supported India at the recent vote at the International Atomic Energy Establishment
'We want better relations with India,' Harper said.
The report in the Canadian daily says Harper 'has put India and its massive middle class on an equal footing with China in foreign trade policy statements and has been careful not to snub New Delhi by giving an impression of favoring Beijing' implying thereby just to visit China and not visit India at the same time.
The report discusses how more recently 'official relations with India improved significantly at the end of July with the removal of a long-standing irritant (in the nuclear field), which should pave the way for a leader-level visit between Canada and India and by extension, a Harper visit to Beijing.'
In his speech at ICCC luncheon, Harper also announced that if the Conservative Government was re-elected on October 14, Canada would have commercial presence in Gujarat, the state with which Ottawa froze its relations following the Godhra tragedy of 2002.
The local Gujarati community organized a video conference on September 19 when Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi spoke thanking Harper for his decision to have the Canadian office in his State.
'India's emergence as an economic power is one reason Canada overlooked concerns about making it an exception to the world's non-proliferation rules (when Canada voted in support of India in IAEA and NSG) despite Pakistan's warning it could spark an Asian arms race.'
Image: Stephen Harper receiving a gift from board members of the Swaminarayan temple in Canada.
