Close X
Sunday, November 24, 2024
ADVT 
National

Modi's Canadian Visit Kicks Off With Deal To Buy Tonnes Of Saskatchewan Uranium

Darpan News Desk The Canadian Press, 15 Apr, 2015 12:48 PM
    OTTAWA — Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi began the first full day of his visit to Canada by signing a deal to buy more than 3,000 tonnes of Saskatchewan uranium over the next five years to fuel his country's power reactors.
     
    But Modi and Prime Minister Stephen Harper agreed Wednesday the deal is just a first step towards deepening economic relations, and that the relationship between the two countries hasn't yet lived up to its potential.
     
    "Canada is a major Asia-Pacific power and should play a more active role, including in regional institutions," Modi said, standing next to Harper.
     
    Harper said he agreed: "It's not where we want it to be, but it is growing."
     
    Saskatchewan Premier Brad Wall, who was on hand for the announcement, said the deal, estimated to be worth hundreds of millions of follars, would be a boon for his province.
     
    "For an employer of 4,000 people in the province — 45 per cent of them First Nations and Metis — it's a great day for Saskatchewan."  
     
    The contract with Cameco Corp. (TSX:CCO) is one of a number of agreements that were announced Wednesday, after Harper welcomed Modi to Parliament Hill amid full military honours, including a 19-gun salute.
     
    The deals include pledges to co-operate in the areas of civil aviation, railway transportation and education and skills development, as well as space, social security and maternal, newborn and child health.
     
    "Canada is ready to deepen co-operation with India in science, education, defence and space technology," Harper said, Modi standing alongside.
     
     
    Modi praised Harper for improving relations between the two countries, saying they had drifted for a while, but are now back on track.
     
    "I am conscious of the significance of this visit in the history of our relations," he said. "I have come at a time when the importance of this relationship for our two countries has never been stronger.
     
    "Canada has the potential to be a key partner in every area of India's national development strategy: energy and infrastructure, manufacturing and skills, smart cities and agro-industry and research and education."
     
    Modi began the day by meeting Gov. Gen. David Johnston at Rideau Hall before a full honour guard and the din of howitzer fire greeted him in the shadow of the Centre Block, where Harper ushered him in for a face-to-face meeting.
     
    Handfuls of supporters chanted Modi's name as he arrived on the Hill.
     
    "He's a rock star," said Ravi Desai, an international student and IT worker from India who lives in Ottawa.
     
    "He's putting aside a lot of traditional things that other governments used to do and he's focusing on technology, and that's what (the youth of India) need," he said.
     
    Modi's critics, however, view him as an extremist Hindu nationalist with blood on his hands from his time as chief minister of Gujarat state.
     
     
    In a Toronto courtroom Wednesday, Sikh advocacy groups tried to launch a private prosecution of Modi, alleging his "acts and omissions" resulted in a massacre of Muslims in his state in 2002.
     
    Part of the Criminal Code allows for the prosecution of individuals who are accused of acts of torture abroad while they are in Canada.
     
    The groups' lawyer, Marlys Edwardh, said in a statement there were reasonable and probable grounds to believe that Modi engaged in the crimes. "Only by taking this step will Canada's commitment to ending impunity for torture and genocide be realized."
     
    The attorney general last week decided against taking any action.
     
    Following their talks, the two leaders were to travel to Toronto, where Modi is scheduled to address members of the city's Indian diaspora. Harper will also accompany him to Vancouver, with no fewer than 16 fellow Conservatives scheduled to appear with them at various events.
     
    Modi's trip is the first bilateral visit to Canada by an Indian prime minister since Indira Gandhi was hosted in 1973 by then-prime minister Pierre Trudeau.

    MORE National ARTICLES

    Paul McCartney Again Calls For End To Canada's Commercial Seal Hunt

    Paul McCartney Again Calls For End To Canada's Commercial Seal Hunt
    ST. JOHN'S, N.L. — Former Beatles frontman Paul McCartney is once again calling for an end to the commercial seal hunt off Canada's East Coast.

    Paul McCartney Again Calls For End To Canada's Commercial Seal Hunt

    More Canadians Scrapping Cable Packages Or Never Signing Up: Report

    More Canadians Scrapping Cable Packages Or Never Signing Up: Report
    TORONTO — More Canadians are choosing to cancel their cable TV and satellite packages and a new report suggests there's no sign of the migration slowing down.

    More Canadians Scrapping Cable Packages Or Never Signing Up: Report

    Accused Toronto Bomb Plotter, Jahanzeb Malik, Ordered Held Again; ID Of Undercover Cop Secret

    Accused Toronto Bomb Plotter, Jahanzeb Malik, Ordered Held Again; ID Of Undercover Cop Secret
    TORONTO — A Pakistani man accused of planning terrorism in Canada will have to stay in custody pending a deportation hearing.

    Accused Toronto Bomb Plotter, Jahanzeb Malik, Ordered Held Again; ID Of Undercover Cop Secret

    Residential Day School Students Who Lost Language And Culture Seek Redress

    Strappings, beatings with a pointed stick and orders to stand in the classroom corner for speaking her own language were among "horrific" measures that erased Darlene Bulpit's ability to pass along her First Nations heritage to her two children and three grandchildren.

    Residential Day School Students Who Lost Language And Culture Seek Redress

    Two UBC Scientists Resign Over Lack Of Women Nominations

    Two UBC Scientists Resign Over Lack Of Women Nominations
    Two female researchers tasked with helping to recognize the top scientists in the country have stepped down from their duties to protest lack of recognition for other women in the field.

    Two UBC Scientists Resign Over Lack Of Women Nominations

    Manitoba Kids In Care Stay In Jail Longer Due To Lack Of Foster Spots: Watchdog

    Manitoba Kids In Care Stay In Jail Longer Due To Lack Of Foster Spots: Watchdog
    WINNIPEG — Manitoba's children's advocate says kids in the care of social services are being kept in jail long after they should be released because there is nowhere else to put them.

    Manitoba Kids In Care Stay In Jail Longer Due To Lack Of Foster Spots: Watchdog