REGINA — Business and policy leaders were in attendance Friday at Mosaic Stadium for the second Western Canada-India Leaders Summit.
The event was put on by the Canada-India Business Council. According to a provincial government news release, the focus is on how Canada and India can expand economic co-operation and diversify their international partnerships.
Premier Scott Moe gave opening remarks at the event and then hosted a panel discussion with High Commissioner for Canada in India Chris Cooter and High Commissioner of India to Canada Dinesh Patnaik.
Moe said the timing of the second annual Western Canada-India Business Summit is "receiving increasing attendance and increasing interest. Which is a testament to the increasing opportunity in the relationship between Canada and India, and from our perspective, Saskatchewan and India. That has been an important relationship for our province for years, one that we've been committed to. And it's so great to see that nation-to-nation relationship be on a strong foundation."
The summit follows close on the heels of Canada's and Saskatchewan's successful recent visit to India, in which Moe and Prime Minister Mark Carney met with India Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The outcome of that visit included a $2.6-billion agreement signed for Cameco to provide uranium to India. Also coming out of that visit was news of the establishment of a Canada-India Pulse Protein Centre of Excellence.
Last year, Carney and Modi confirmed they had restarted negotiations for the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement. During his morning remarks in Regina, Canadian High Commissioner Cooter expressed optimism that a trade deal with India was very likely to happen.
Moe called his reaction to that comment "positive, and not surprising," pointing to the discussions with the ministers involved.
"But notwithstanding, there's much to discuss on the opportunities and where we can have shared opportunities and really bring forward a synergistic relationship, as Canada brings to every trade deal that we sign. So, a lot of work going on. You saw the relationship between the respective high commissioners — that's key to it as well. And I think there's a similar relationship between the ministers and certainly between our respective Prime Ministers as well."
The optimism was echoed by Victor Thomas, president and CEO of the Canada-India Business Council, in speaking to reporters.
"We've been trying this for over 15 years. And, you know, we've had some starts and some stops. But it very much seems like this is the moment where we're actually going to get a trade deal and a comprehensive trade deal, which will be a huge boon to businesses in terms of injecting confidence and momentum between the two countries."
"This is building on the very foundation of where the relationship is," Moe said. "And I think this will be a tremendous step forward in advancing some of the opportunities that our respective countries have — building on that very foundation.”
One outstanding item that was not resolved during the premier's trip in March was India's tariffs on Canadian pulses, including 30 per cent on yellow peas and 10 per cent on lentils.
Moe was asked how a trade agreement would affect pulse tariffs and he responded those would be "part of the conversation."
"Whether or not they're in the finalized deal will be for the ministers to ultimately decide and the nations to decide," Moe said.
"There's much complication in pulse tariffs, of which I've had many conversations over a number of years with various Indian ministers. So, we would hope that it's part of that comprehensive trade deal."
But Moe said they understand that "the need for pulses in India is not going to go away," pointing to more than half of pulses imported into India coming from the province of Saskatchewan.
"And so, whether they're in the actual trade deal or not, it would be preferable if they are, but it's not a showstopper."
