Unlimited flights between India and Canada given green light in move to rekindle trade ties

The minister said that the government will allow an unlimited number of flights from designated airlines between Canada and India, which will vastly increase the number of flights between the two countries.

The expanded agreement will help our businesses grow and succeed by making the movement of goods and people faster and easier.

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Air Canada, the only airline that does significant business in Asia, gets access to Bangalore, Chennai, Delhi, Hyderabad, Kolkata, and Mumbai, as well as two additional points.

Relations between Canada and India hit a rough patch a few years ago over New Delhi's concern that Trudeau's government was soft on the Sikh movement in Punjab. After more than a decade of negotiations, the two countries launched a new round of talks in March. Canada has begun more aggressively courting India to counter the growing influence of China and Russia in the region.

The last expansion of air transport services between Canada and New Delhi was in 2011. The policy was adopted in 2006 to guide Canada in pursuing bilateral deals that boost the country's economy through expanded international air travel.

The foundation of the Canada- India relationship is the strong people-to- people ties, according to India's consul general.

There are a lot of Indians here. There are over one million Indians living and working in Canada. Indian students make up the majority of international students in Canada. There are a lot of people ready to come to Canada for educational reasons.

There will be more to come.

The email is bbbharti@postmedia.