Toronto, May 31 (IANS) India and Canada will break yet another milestone in their burgeoning ties as they hold the first Canada-India Innovation Summit June 20-21.
Kapil Sibal, minister of communications and information technology, and John Baird, Canadian minister of foreign affairs, will set the tone for the two-day summit at Ottawa’s Carleton University.
With India and Canada negotiating a free trade agreement after signing a landmark nuclear deal in 2009, the Innovation Summit aims at creating ‘win-win relationships and joint business opportunities” between the two countries.
Its major thrust will be on ‘identifying strategic opportunities in key sectors such as biotechnology, environment and information and communication technologies.”
Sam Pitroda, head of India Innovation Council, Rajagopala Chidambaram, principal scientific advisor to the Prime Minister, T. Ramasami, secretary in the department of science and technology, Suresh Prabhu, former minister for power and environment, and M. Anandakrishnan, head of FICCI higher education committee, will be the official speakers from India.
Carleton University president Roseann O’Reilly Runte and Indian high commissioner S. M. Gavai will join more than a dozen top CEOs from the two countries ‘to break new ground in science and technology collaboration and to identify opportunities for stronger and more creative bilateral activities that reflect our shared emphasis on science-based economic growth.”
Carleton University is also home to the Canada-India Centre of Excellence in Science, Technology, Trade and Policy aimed at raising awareness about bilateral studies and public diplomacy, and develop initiatives to build a better understanding of the two countries.
The university said the summit will ‘open an important dialogue among senior policy and decision makers that will serve to break new ground in science and technology collaboration and to identify opportunities for stronger and more creative bilateral activities that reflect our shared emphasis on science-based economic growth.’
The Innovation Summit is one of the many India-centric events taking place in Canada in June as part of the on-going celebrations of the Year of India in Canada, including the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas and the International Indian Film Academy (IIFA) Awards.
(Gurmukh Singh can be contacted at gurmukh.s@ians.in)
