- Monday, November 25, 2024
Anita Huberman of Surrey Board of Trade said she hopes the situation doesn’t worsen and have a long-term impact on trade ties with India.
By: Shubham Ghosh
BUSINESSES in Canada’s British Columbia (BC) are keeping a close watch on the situation as diplomatic tensions between the North American country and India continue over the murder of a Khalistan separatist leader in Surrey in the same province in June.
According to a report by Canada’s Richmond News, while businesses said they were continuing their trade activities with India, some business trips were postponed.
Bilateral ties between Ottawa and New Delhi plummeted after Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau alleged in the country’s parliament on September 18 India’s involvement in the shooting of Hardeep Singh Nijjar, a Canadian citizen, outside a gurdwara in Surrey, BC.
India strongly reacted, calling the allegations “absurd” and “motivated” and also suspended issuing visas to Canadian citizens. The two sides also expelled each other’s senior diplomats with India asking Canada to withdraw as many as 41 diplomats from its soil.
Amid the diplomatic spat, businesses in Canada were watching proceedings with apprehension.
Vivek Savkur, founder and president of India Business Network (BC-IBN), told Richmond News that they were optimistic that things would be normal.
“At the end, it has to work out because both India and Canada are intertwined with each other in business, commerce, economics, as well as culture. I cannot see any separation there,” he was quoted as saying by the news outlet.
The official also said that members of the organisation have not stopped their trade activities with India. It is also set to organise The Grand Diwali Gala this month.
However, while Savkur expressed confidence that neither government would allow the relationship “hit a dead end” for trade and investment reasons, particularly when both nations have high stakes, Anita Huberman, chief executive and president of Surrey Board of Trade, was still worried about the future.
Calling the situation “unfortunate”, she said many planned business visits to both countries have been postponed. Huberman was in New Delhi to advance the talks on the Early Progress Trade Agreement between Canada and India during the G20 meet. The agreement was later put on hold by the Canadian side indefinitely during the summit held last month.
“Certainly with recent political visits that have happened for the G20, we see an escalating situation where many of our businesses have had to postpone plans to visit India and vice versa as well,” Huberman was quoted as saying by Richmond News.
A delegation from India which the Surrey trade board was expecting in October postponed their visit, she added.
Last month, a trade mission by Canadian trade minister Mary Ng to India was also deferred. This happened after Trudeau was reportedly reprimanded by his Indian counterpart Modi at the G20 summit over the growing anti-India activities on Canadian soil.
Huberman also said she hopes the situation doesn’t worsen and have a long-term impact on trade ties with India.
British Columbia’s exports to India touched a record $1.5 billion last year, making India the province’s sixth-largest export destination.
