Shastri Indo-Canadian Institute

Shastri News - September 2009

A New Direction for the Canada-India Relationship

Ryan Touhey
Assistant Professor of History at St. Jerome’s University/University of Waterloo

In 2008, the Canadian International Council (CIC) announced its first fellowship recipients, a group of eight scholars selected from across Canada to research and produce new foreign policy insights for national debate and discussion. One of the foreign policy themes that the CIC is focusing on is the rise of emerging global powers, such as India, and their relationship with Canada. My project, ‘A New Direction for the Canada-India Relationship’, examines how the Canadian government can practically re-develop a historically neglected relationship with India at a time when interest in India is not only increasing domestically but globally as well. The research focuses on three specific niche areas that have traditionally been underutilized by Ottawa and New Delhi yet have the promise to enhance bilateral ties: public diplomacy initiatives, higher education ties, and science and technology linkages.

“Ryan Touhey, a terrific young historian, is the Canadian scholar who has engaged most excitingly with India of late, bridging the often turbulent but rich history of Canada-India relations since 1947 with today’s more stable and positive, if still immature prospects for a closer bilateral relationship.”
~Dr. David Malone, President, International Development Research Council

Executive Summary

Since 2001 sitting Canadian governments have stated that Ottawa needs to raise the profile of the Canada-India relationship on a variety of fronts. There have, however, been precious few federal initiatives developed to achieve these aims. The current government lists India as a foreign policy priority, particularly at the economic level. And while there have been a number of high profile cabinet visits to India since 2006, the rhetoric has not been matched by significant new funding or policy initiatives. One critical departure from that trend occurred in August 2008 when Ottawa reversed a decades old policy that prohibited nuclear cooperation with India in the aftermath of New Delhi’s decision to test nuclear devices in 1974 and 1998. Granted, Ottawa’s hand was forced by external factors, particularly the US-India Civil Nuclear Deal. Still, this decision is historically significant.

Ottawa’s new policy has the potential to usher in a new phase for the Canada-India bilateral relationship that moves beyond the distrust created from proliferation concerns as well as Cold War era divergences. Ottawa looks to redevelop this bilateral relationship at a time when India is experiencing an unprecedented rise on the global stage economically and geopolitically. There is no shortage of foreign suitors seeking to strengthen their ties with India. The question now is how can the Canadian government, with the support of the provinces and interested NGOs, redevelop and build on a relationship that was neglected for the better part of 30 years? There are some who unrealistically call for a strategic relationship with India that is based on closer military and security ties while others vaguely suggest that shared values alone will create an enhanced relationship.

It is time to reconsider Canada’s bilateral relationship with India and Ottawa should develop practical niche linkages with New Delhi. It is essential that the Canadian federal government concentrate on niche areas that can set a firm base from which it can interact with a rising India while promoting its economic, political and cultural interests. This paper outlines three such areas that should be emphasized to develop an underdeveloped and under-articulated relationship.

• Canada must strengthen its meagre public diplomacy/advocacy efforts in India. The federal government could consider the creation of an India specific public diplomacy program:
  • A Canada-India Council that will work to enhance the flow of knowledge and people between Canada and India needs to be created. Such an organization would facilitate advocacy and Track Two efforts with other interested organizations
• Post-secondary linkages with Indian students, universities and colleges must be strengthened. To achieve this goal, the federal government should consider the following:
  • Closer coordination with the provinces and higher-education sector actors engaged in India alongside the creation of a federally-funded program to develop and enhance bilateral education dialogue and linkages
  • Increased levels of federal funding for international scholarships that are available for Indian students.
  • Conducting a national mapping study to identify the main academic institutions operating in India and catalogue their successes and failures to date.
• Canada and India should bolster their nascent science and technology (S&T) linkages through the following means:
  • Increased funding for the current Canada and India S&T program
  • Long-term funding stability
  • Develop an S&T India Program led by the National Research Council to strengthen capacity building in India, particularly amongst higher education facilities
    It is an opportune time to redevelop the Canada-India bilateral relationship but it is essential that Ottawa provides the national leadership that has traditionally been lacking with practical policies based on a longterm vision that will help relations reach their full potential

Download full article directly from the CIC website.

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