Modi's visit to Canada to boost bilateral economic ties

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will meet with the heads of pension funds, banks and other financial leaders during his visit to Canada next week to boost investments in India's infrastructure sector.
Modi will also discuss with Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper the Foreign Investment Promotion and Protection Agreement (FIPPA) and the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) that will have a huge impact and will facilitate much higher levels of trade in terms of both investment and actual product trade, official sources said.
Modi will arrive here next Tuesday for a three-day state visit to Canada that is expected to include a speech to Indo-Canadians at Toronto's Ricoh Coliseum and a state dinner with Harper in Vancouver.

Vishnu Prakash, India's High Commissioner to Canada, told PTI that both leaders would discuss bilateral issues, FIPPA and CEPA.
He said India is interested in encouraging Canadian investors - including the heads of major pension plans - to look closely at India's burgeoning infrastructure sector.
As India's economy expands and more people move to cities, he said, infrastructure will need to be improved.

India's relative stability and strong growth rates make it a good choice for medium to long-term investments, he said.
"If Canadian financial institutions are going to make an investment in any country, they would have certain expectations and Prime Minister (Modi) wants to hear from business leaders themselves about their expectations," he said.

Schedules for Modi's visit are still being drawn up, but he is expected to travel to Ottawa, Toronto and Vancouver with a large delegation of business leaders and officials, and will meet representatives of small and medium enterprises, banks and other institutional investors.
Modi is scheduled to meet Harper in Ottawa on April 15, before travelling to Toronto to deliver a speech to a large number of Indo-Canadians at Ricoh Coliseum.
On April 16, Modi is expected to hold round-table meetings with business leaders and investors in Toronto before visiting a memorial dedicated to the victims of the 1985 Air India disaster.

As many as 329 people were killed in the bombing of Air India's Boeing 747 'Kanishka' on 23 June 1985.
He will then fly to Vancouver, where he will visit the Khalsa Diwan Society's Ross Street gurdwara, a Sikh place of worship, and the Laxmi Narayan temple in Surrey.
He is also expected to attend a state dinner with Harper in Vancouver on April 16.