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O 301231Z NOV 09
FM AMEMBASSY NEW DELHI
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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 NEW DELHI 002401 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR SCA/INS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PREL CA IN
SUBJECT: FRESH MOMENTUM: CANADIAN PM HARPER VISITS INDIA 
 
¶1. (U) SUMMARY: Canadian PM Stephen Harper's November 15-18 
visit to India was long on atmospherics but short on solid 
deliverables.  In addition to official meetings with PM 
Singh, EAM Krishna and Sonia Gandhi, Harper had a highly 
visible public program in Mumbai and touched base with the 
Sikh community in Amritsar.  The visit produced an agreement 
to establish a study group on possibilities for a 
Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement, an MOU on 
energy issues, and a positive and optimistic Joint Statement. 
 END SUMMARY. 
 
The Lighter Side of Harper's Visit: Culture and Business 
--------------------------------------------- ----------- 
¶2. (U) Harper's schedule built on strong people-to-people 
ties between India and Canada and highlighted the potential 
for increased trade between the two countries.  There have 
been 11 ministerial visits to India since 2006.  The Canadian 
PM traveled from the APEC conference in Singapore directly to 
Mumbai, where he held four roundtables with Indian investors 
to discuss investment, infrastructure, education, and the 
civil nuclear sector.  Harper delivered a speech at Mumbai's 
Trident Hotel to approximately 240 guests, most of whom were 
Indian.  Harper also found time in Mumbai to present 
Bollywood star Akshay Kumar with a symbolic Olympic torch 
(Kumar will be a torchbearer at the 2010 winter Olympics in 
Vancouver), and to appear with Mrs. Harper on a popular 
reality TV show (India's equivalent to "So You Think You Can 
Dance?").  Harper was quoted in the Indian press as saying 
"India...has frankly no closer cultural and human relations 
with any other developed country than it does with Canada." 
 
The Official Meetings 
--------------------------- 
¶3. (U) In Delhi, PM Harper met with Prime Minister Singh, 
President Patil, Vice President Ansari, and Congress Party 
leader Sonia Gandhi.  He received calls at his hotel from 
Foreign Minister Krishna and opposition leader Advani.  The 
meeting with PM Singh included Foreign Minister Krishna, 
Minister of Commerce Sharma, National Security Advisor 
Narayanan, Special Envoy for Climate Change Shyam Saran, 
Atomic Energy Commission chairman Kakodkar, and G-20 
representative Montek Singh Ahluwalia.  Canadian High 
Commission Deputy Chief of Mission Jim Nichol told us the 
leaders exchanged facts and perspectives on global and 
regional issues, but focused primarily on the optimistic 
outlook for the bilateral relationship. 
 
Regional Issues 
--------------- 
¶4. (U) Each side touched on their economic development 
efforts in Afghanistan.  Singh expressed concern whether 
Karzai would be able to keep momentum on reform and 
development, worrying that further destabilization in 
Afghanistan could lead to regional instability.  Harper 
committed to working with India to fight international 
terrorism and extended condolences for the Mumbai attack, 
stressing the need for the perpetrators to be brought to 
justice. 
 
The Financial Crisis 
-------------------- 
¶5. (U) Harper and Singh, both of whom are trained economists, 
bonded over a discussion of the global economic recovery and 
highlighted that Canada and India have weathered the crisis 
well due to their financial and regulatory regimes.  Canada 
plans to co-host the June 2010 G-20 meeting with Korea: Singh 
will attend.  Both sides agreed on the importance of economic 
stability and recovery. 
 
Climate Change 
-------------- 
¶6. (U) On climate change, DCM Nichol reported that there was 
a "certain recognition" on both sides of the need for 
positive outcomes in Copenhagen, but he was not optimistic 
about significant results.  At minimum, he said, the two 
 
NEW DELHI 00002401  002 OF 002 
 
 
countries expressed hope for a strong political statement. 
 
The Deliverables: Some Disappointments 
-------------------------------------- 
¶7. (U) The Prime Ministers launched a Joint Study Group to 
examine possibilities for a Comprehensive Economic 
Partnership (CEPA).  The group will meet in December and is 
to complete the study before Singh's June visit to Canada for 
the G-20.  Also inked was an MOU on Energy covering a wide 
range of issues.  A number of hoped-for bilateral agreements 
were not achieved during this visit, DCM Nichol told us. 
Canada had aimed to finalize the Foreign Investment Promotion 
Agreement, the Bilateral Social Security Agreement, the MOU 
on Cultural Understanding and the Civil Nuclear Agreement. 
Nichol shared that India will launch "the year of India in 
Canada" in 2011, and the cultural understanding MOU needs to 
be finalized in order to assist in developing approaches to 
the program. 
 
Civil Nuclear Agreement 
----------------------- 
¶8. (U) Though a civil nuclear agreement was not reached 
during the visit, Singh and Harper met on the sidelines of 
the November 28 Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting 
(CHOGM) in Port of Spain and announced an agreement that will 
allow the countries to resume nuclear trade after a gap of 34 
years (Note: Canada suspended nuclear trade with India in 
1974 after India tested a nuclear device engineered with 
misappropriated Canadian technology).  Canadian Political and 
Economic Counselor Julia Bentley told us that an inconclusive 
round of negotiations was held on November 14 and 15 in 
Mumbai ahead of Harper's official meetings in India.  An 
agreement was reached during a November 23 follow-up 
negotiation in Toronto, but it was not announced immediately. 
 The agreement will still be subject to legal scrubs and 
parliamentary reviews on both sides: Bentley told us she was 
not sure the legal processes would be completed in time to 
inaugurate the civil nuclear agreement during Singh's trip to 
Canada for the G-20 meeting in June.  She indicated, however, 
that several other "less complicated" deliverables are on 
track. 
 
The Joint Statement 
------------------- 
¶9. (U) The tone of the joint statement was positive, with 
commitments to strengthen the bilateral relationship in areas 
including economics and trade, education, culture, sports, 
and tourism and to increase bilateral trade from USD 5 
billion to USD 15 billion within five years.  Furthermore, 
the statement noted the two government's agreement to 
finalize negotiations on several bilateral agreements 
including an Investment promotion and Protection Agreement, 
the Social Security Agreement, and the Civil Nuclear 
Cooperation Agreement (as announced at the CHOGM).  Prime 
Minister Singh told the press that India-Canada relations 
have strengthened under Harper's administration and that his 
visit added "fresh momentum" to the relationship.  (Note: 
full text of the joint statement and statement to the press 
available at http://meaindia.nic.in). 
 
¶10. (U) COMMENT: As the largest producer of uranium in the 
world, Canada could be a key partner for uranium-hungry 
India.  The two countries have strong cultural ties to build 
on, and a great deal of potential to expand their economic 
relationship.  We suspect that many of the hoped-for 
deliverables, including the Civil-Nuclear Agreement, were not 
ready for the visit simply because of capacity issues at the 
Indian MEA which was preoccupied with preparations for PM 
Singh's high-profile trip to the US at the same time that 
Harper visited India.  END COMMMENT. 
 
 
 
ROEMER