Canada and India are natural allies
says Meira Kumar, India’s Lok Sabha Speaker

In an historic visit to Toronto, Hon. Meira Kumar, the Speaker of India’s Lok Sabha – India lower house of Parliament – lauded the role of the Indian Diaspora in playing a positive role in fostering relations between Canada and India.

Calling the two countries “natural allies”, Hon. Meira Kumar said Canada and India share many commonalities such as the parliamentary form of democracy, pluralism and rich diversity. “Believing in the same things binds us,” she said.

The first woman speaker of the Lok Sabha was addressing a gathering of Indo-Canadian community in downtown Toronto jointly organized by the Consulate General of India in Toronto, the Indo-Canada Chamber of Commerce and Panorama India.

Hon. Kumar was head of the delegation comprising Parliamentarians from India that participated in the Inter-Parliamentary Union meeting in Quebec from October 21 to 26. The other Members of the Parliament in the delegation were Hon. M Jagannath, Hon. Ravi Shankar Prasad, Hon. PS Bajwa, Hon. Jose K Mani, and Hon. Dr Mehboob Beg (MPs). Senior officials from both the houses of the Indian Parliament were also a part of the delegation.

Hon. Kumar said that economically Canada is an important country for India because of its natural resources and technical expertise. She said that there are several complementary spheres – such as energy and food security – where the interests of both countries coincide, and the recent spate of visits by ministers from both countries was an indication of the strengthening relationship between Canada and India.

Welcoming the delegation to Toronto, Naval Bajaj, ICCC’s President said the growing economic cooperation between Canada and India is a result of new realities that have emerged during the last couple of years which take cognisance of the emerging political and economic scenarios globally.

“This cooperation is a vindication of our Chamber’s long-standing belief that Canada and India are natural allies, especially in the economic sphere,” he said.

He informed the Hon. Speaker that in recognition of the Chamber’s sustained work in promoting Canada-India relations, the Government of India honoured it with the Pravasi Bharatiya Samman Award (PBSA) – the highest accolade given to an overseas Indian organization.

Consul General Madam Preeti Saran drew attention to Hon. Speaker’s achievements in the Indian Foreign Service (IFS), then as a Member of Parliament and now as the Speaker of the Lok Sabha.

Jibanjit Tripathi, Chair of Panorama India also spoke on the occasion.