February 11, 2021
2 mins read

Indo-Canada Chamber lauds India’s vaccine offer to Canada

The Indo-Canada Chamber of Commerce (ICCC) and many other Indo-Canadian organisations have welcomed Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modis promise to provide Covid-19 vaccine to Canada…writes Gurmukh Singh.

Modi made this promise to his Canadian counterpart Justin Trudeau who called him on Wednesday to discuss various issues, including the pandemic, the economic recovery and climate change.

In a tweet, Modi said that he “assured him (Trudeau) that India would do its best to facilitate supplies of COVID vaccines sought by Canada”.

Trudeau is facing a public backlash because of the lack of the availability of vaccines as both Pfizer and Moderna have either cut or delayed shipments to Canada which has got only 1.1 million doses so far.

Indo-Canadian trade bodies welcomed the initiative by Trudeau to call Modi in the wake of the setback to bilateral relations after Trudeau issued a statement in December in support of the farmers’ stir in India.

Canada prime minister Justin Trudeau.

Calling it a big development in bilateral ties, Indo-Canada Chamber of Commerce President Vijay Thomas said: “India’s promise to deliver Covid vaccine to Canada is welcome news in the wake of some recent headwinds in our relationship. A big barrier has been broken.”

Thomas said the phone discussion between the two Prime Minister could be the beginning of a new partnership.

“Sometimes politics leads to a better trade relationship, but better trade too can lead to a better political relationship. This development will help remove all irritants between our two countries.”

vaccine jabs

Shiv Bhasker, President of the Ottawa-based Overseas Friends of India and Canada (OFIC) said: “This is an excellent development. Any irritants caused by recent Canadian statements about the farmers’ stir in India can now be smoothed out. India is a big market for Canadian goods, agriculture, urea, aerospace parts, water technology, and we should focus on trade rather than issue statements on India’s internal affairs.”

Winnipeg businessman Hemant Shah, who has worked for four decades on India-Canada trade, said: “Trudeau has done the right thing by calling Modi. It has taken decades, efforts, and taxpayers’ money to build our bilateral trade relationship with India. We must not harm it with negative statements.”

Also Read-Biden imposes sanctions on Myanmar Generals

Previous Story

Kim urges to strengthen legal supervision over economic plan

Next Story

‘Double masking gives more protection’

Latest from -Top News

Musk Goes Political

Billionaire tech mogul launches ‘America Party’ to challenge Washington’s status quo…reports Asian Lite News In a sensational twist to the Trump-Musk fallout saga, the Tesla CEO launched his own “America Party”. Musk

UAE Takes Part in 3rd BRICS Sherpa Meeting

For the UAE, BRICS provides a valuable platform for dialogue and policy coordination across regions….reports Asian Lite News Saeed Mubarak Al Hajeri, Assistant Minister for Economic and Trade Affairs and the UAE’s

7/7 London & 12/3 Bombay – Tale of Two Cities

The 7/7 bombings changed London forever. The Victorian-era Tube system still struggles with outages and emergencies. A minor fire or power failure still sends people scrambling in fear.  I saw the same
Go toTop