Canada PM Visits India To Boost Trade, Tourism

ERIKA KINETZ

MUMBAI, India (AP) — Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper arrived in India on Monday on his first state visit, part of an effort to boost trade and tourism between the two countries.

"Our combined GDP is well on the way to 4 trillion dollars. Yet at the moment we are only doing 5 billion dollars worth of business. Where we are today is not where we ought to be," he told a gathering of businesspeople in Mumbai.

Since Harper took office in 2006, Canada has sent 11 ministerial delegations to India and opened three new trade office in the Indian cities of Hyderabad, Calcutta and Ahmedabad. India now has the second largest network of Canadian trade offices after the U.S.

Canada and India are negotiating nuclear cooperation, clean energy and foreign investment agreements.

Harper also announced that Bollywood star Akshay Kumar, who has made over 120 films and is a black belt in karate, will be a torchbearer for the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver.