Canada, India seeking closer ties

Canada and India signed a series of agreements here Wednesday to boost bilateral collaboration in areas of civil aviation, railway transportation, education and skills development, space, social security, and maternal, newborn and child health.

The signing of the agreements was witnessed by visiting Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Canadian counterpart Stephen Harper in Ottawa, the national capital of Canada, Wednesday morning.

During Modi's visit, Cameco, Canada's largest uranium producer, also signed a contract with India's Department of Atomic Energy for supplying 7.1 million pounds of uranium concentrate to India over the next five years.

Canada suspended exports of uranium and nuclear hardware to India in the 1970s after New Delhi used Canadian technology to develop a nuclear bomb.

During a joint press conference after the agreements were signed, Modi said the contract, which is worthy of 350-million Canadian dollars (about 284.6 million U.S. dollars), reflects "a new level of mutual trust and confidence."

Modi said he is confident Canada and India will conclude an investment protection treaty very soon, and both countries will also implement plans to complete a comprehensive trade deal by September 2015.

Modi arrived in Ottawa Tuesday evening for a three-day visit to Canada. He will travel to Toronto Wednesday evening to address some 10,000 members of Indo-Canadian community in the city and then move on to visit Vancouver on the west coast of Canada.

Modi is the first sitting Indian prime minister to visit Canada since 1973. Endite