British Columbia business leaders say trade activity continues, but India’s suspension of visa processing services for Canadians has hampered building personal relationships
British Columbia companies say they are closely monitoring the situation between Canada and India amid ongoing tensions.
Bilateral relations hit a new low after Prime Minister Trudeau accused India of murdering Canadian Sikh Hardeep Singh Nijjar in Surrey last week. India responded by suspending visa processing services in Canada.
Companies say they are continuing their trade activities with India, but some business trips have been postponed.
“We are very optimistic and hope that everything will be fine,” said Vivek Savkur, founder and president of India Business Network (BC-IBN).
“It has to work out in the end because both India and Canada are intertwined in the areas of economy, trade, economics and culture. I can’t see any separation there.”
According to Savkur, BC-IBN members are waiting but have neither restricted nor stopped their trading activities with India. The organization is also pushing ahead with its biggest event of the year, the Grand Diwali Gala in October.
However, political tensions and uncertainty have led to planned business visits between British Columbia and India being postponed, according to Anita Huberman, CEO and president of the Surrey Board of Trade.
“It’s certainly unfortunate,” said Huberman, who attended B20/G20 in New Delhi to advance talks on an Early Progress Trade Agreement (EPTA), which was forever shelved by the Canadian government during the summit.
“Given the recent G20 political visits, we are certainly seeing an escalating situation where many of our companies have had to postpone plans to visit India and vice versa.”
A delegation from India that the SBOT had expected to receive in mid-October has postponed its trip, she said.
“Building these relationships for our local businesses in India has hopefully come to a temporary halt. But we continue to believe that it is important to continue to consider and do business with India regardless of the current policy or situation.”
Huberman said she hopes the situation does not escalate further and have a long-term impact on trade with India in the future.
“If we want to ship goods to India or if India wants to ship goods to Canada, will there be tariffs or additional taxes?” What about the partnerships we have already established locally in India to leverage opportunities for local businesses ? How will this affect? All of these questions have been asked and we are watching this every day,” Huberman said.
Savkur said he is confident that the governments of both countries will not allow relations to “reach a dead end” over trade and investment reasons.
“A large portion of pension funds are invested in India, and a large portion of other investments came from India to British Columbia and Canada. Nobody will risk missing out on all these investments,” he said.
According to think tank GTRI, Canadian pension funds had invested over $45 billion in India in 2022, making the country the fourth-largest recipient of Canadian foreign direct investment in the world.
B.C.’s exports to India also reached a record $1.5 billion last year, making India the province’s sixth-largest export destination.
“It’s just a few hiccups and both Canada and India and common allies like the US, UK and Australia will achieve stability. “I don’t think the whole matter will escalate further – it’s in the interest of both.” said Savkur.
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