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TORONTO: Canadian Governor General David Johnston will visit India from February 22 to March 2.
During his visit, a government statement said, the Governor General will meet top Indian leaders, including the president and the prime minister, senior government officials, business leaders and civil society, with a view to strengthening bilateral relations between the two countries.
The statement said, “Canada and India have longstanding bilateral relations built on shared values of democracy and pluralism, as well as close cooperation within the Commonwealth and the United Nations.
“In recent years, both countries have worked to enhance bilateral relations in several areas, including commerce, security, education, energy, science and technology, culture, and agriculture.”
The two-way trade between the two countries stands at over $5 billion, with the pledge of tripling it in the coming years.
Canada is home to a million-strong Indian diaspora, and about 30,000 Indian students are studying in Canadian institutions.
The two countries had excellent relations from the 1950s to till 1974 when India exploded its first nuclear device. Canada, which had helped India with its fledgling nuclear programme by supplying CANDU reactors in the mid-1950s, slapped sanctions on New Delhi. But the current government, which took over in 2006, has made India a priority nation as part of its diplomacy.
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