Wednesday, February 21, 2024

Canadian province premier visits India to boost trade ties; holds talks with S Jaishankar

ByAnirudh Bhattacharyya
Feb 21, 2024 

Among his engagements will be featuring as a speaker at the Raisina Dialogue, which is organised by Observer Research Foundation in association with India’s Ministry of External Affairs


Toronto: In the second visit by a provincial leader this month, the Premier of Saskatchewan Scott Moe arrived in New Delhi on Tuesday.

India’s External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar (right) with Scott Moe, Premier of the province of Saskatchewan, Canada, in New Delhi on Tuesday. (Credit: S Jaishankar/X)

In a release on Tuesday, his office said, “Today, Premier Scott Moe is leading a delegation to India to maintain and grow trade opportunities, increase investment attraction, and showcase Saskatchewan’s capacity to foster food and energy security goals.”
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Among his first engagements was a meeting with India’s External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, who posted on X that he appreciated Moe’s “strong support for our partnership and looking forward to deepening our cooperation”.

After his arrival, Moe posted, “Saskatchewan is an exporting province and thousands of SK jobs depend on strong export markets. In 2023, SK exports to India totalled over $1.3 billion. My job as Premier is to ensure we maintain and expand those markets and protect the thousands of SK jobs that rely on exports. That’s why I’m in India this week.”

In the release, he said, “This is an important mission for Saskatchewan as we continue to build relationships with India. We have built strong relationships over a number of decades which has been crucial to building opportunities and protecting communities and jobs back home.”

Among his engagements will be featuring as a speaker at the Raisina Dialogue, which is organised by Observer Research Foundation in association with the Ministry of External Affairs. Moe will be speaking about Saskatchewan’s sustainable agriculture practices and reliable supply chain. He will be in India till February 24.

The province’s top five exports to India include lentils, potash, wood pulp, peas and non-durum wheat. Saskatchewan is India’s largest exporter of key products including potash and lentils.

His visit comes days after a week-long “sales mission” by Ontario’s Minister of Economic Development, Job Creation and Trade Victor Fedeli to India, with events in Mumbai and Bengaluru.


That was the first by a prominent Canadian leader to India since bilateral tensions erupted in September over the killing of pro-Khalistan figure Hardeep Singh Nijjar on June 18 in Surrey, British Columbia. Negotiations over an Early Progress Trade Agreement (EPTA) between India and Canada were paused in late August, days prior to Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s statement in the House of Commons that there were “credible allegations” of a potential link between Indian agents and Nijjar’s killing. While engagement at the Federal level has not resumed, sub-national contacts appear to have with the visits by Fedeli and Moe.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Anirudh Bhattacharyya is a Toronto-based commentator on North American issues, and an author. He has also worked as a journalist in New Delhi and New York spanning print, television and digital media. He tweets as @anirudhb.

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