Trade minister Mary Ng to visit India, signaling shift in relations since Trudeau's ill-fated 2018 trip

The first high-level visit to Asia's third-biggest economy since Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's ill-fated tour of the country last year will take place this week when Trade Minister Mary Ng goes to India.

The visit was announced in a press release. The statement does not include dates, but a spokesman said that Ng was going to leave by the end of the week. She was going to have a meeting with the minister of commerce and industry in India.

Canada and India already share strong trade and people-to-people ties, and I am committed to further strengthen our relationship.

India was an early focus of Trudeau's trade policy after he was elected in 2015, as he looked for ways to diminish Canada's dependence on the United States. The push was derailed by the negative attention generated by the trip, which became a political issue back home. Modi didn't greet Trudeau when he arrived, Jaspal Atwal was invited to a party that Trudeau hosted for Indian officials, and the prime minister was mocked for it.

There were positive headlines, too, but they have largely been forgotten. India and Canada are ready to move on from the problems that were created by the trip. Within a decade, India's population is set to overtake China's, as India is gaining more economic influence in the region. The country's strategic importance is rising as the United States and its allies look for alternatives to China.

Since the beginning of the year, Canada's trade department has held several meetings to discuss ways to complete a trade agreement with Canada. Trudeau wants the minister to continue negotiating bilateral and regional trade agreements in Asia, home to a disproportionate number of the world's fastest growing economies.

The federal government still hasn't come up with a comprehensive strategy for the Asia-Pacific, which could make it difficult for Ng to make progress.

In the most recent Indian federal budget, there are plans to increase spending on infrastructure by a third.

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), an economic bloc that comprises 10 countries including Thailand, Vietnam, the Philippines and Singapore, began trade talks with her office in November. She announced the start of discussions with Indonesia in June to draw up a free-trade agreement.

Canada has agreements with some countries through bilateral deals. An agreement with Canada, the 11th-largest export market and 12th largest trading partner overall, would improve the $16-million trade deficit between the two countries and lead to a deal with an economic powerhouse in Asia. It would be the best way to get after China, a relationship that appears destined to be icy for the foreseeable future, following the arrest of Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor by China.

Medhora said that India is a more accessible partner than China because of its neutral stance on the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

There are a lot of reasons to believe that India is not a lost cause and that Canada does not see India as having created enough issues on the Russian front to call off.

Email: bbharti@postmedia.com