CBC reports that Prime Minister Stephen Harper is clearly frustrated by the lack of progress on a Canada-India Foreign Investment Promotion and Protection Agreement.

The news article by Terry Milewski notes,  “After a slow-moving summit with his Indian counterpart, Harper told a business conference (the World Economic Forum) in New Delhi that trade ties between India and Canada are not developing fast enough. … He added tartly, ‘massive and undeniable as that potential is, it will not develop itself.’ …Frustration (was also expressed) yesterday when prime minister Manmohan Singh refused to allow a joint press conference following his meeting with Harper — prompting a brief and hastily-arranged press scrum by Harper alone.”

To see trade campaigner Stuart Trew’s action alert opposed to the Canada-India FIPA, go here. Campaign blogs on Canada-India FIPA talks, can be read at http://canadians.org/blog/?p=17707.

There was also some controversy on this trip because, as reported by the Toronto Star, “The Mounties have flown in at least two of the prime minister’s vehicles from Ottawa — including his armoured limousine — to shuttle him around during his Indian visit, a move typically reserved only for travels in dangerous areas. The move, a break from tradition since the prime minister has in the past relied on vehicles provided locally, raises questions about why the RCMP and officials in the prime minister’s office thought the vehicles offered by his Indian hosts were inadequate. …The prime minister has usually relied on vehicles sourced locally, such as a Mercedes Benz or a van. It’s rare for the Mounties to go to the extraordinary effort and expense to ship over the prime minister’s own vehicles from Canada.”

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Brent Patterson

Brent Patterson is a political activist, writer and the executive director of Peace Brigades International-Canada. He lives in Ottawa on the traditional, unceded and unsurrendered territories of the Algonquin...