Canadian Foreign Minister to arrive tomorrow

New Delhi, Jan 9 (UNI) Canadian Foreign Minister Maxime Bernier will arrive here tomorrow on a three-day visit to India for discussions with External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee on a range of bilateral, regional and multilateral matters of mutual concern, including the situation in Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Other issues that may come up during the discussions, include trade and investment, implementation of S and T agreement, cooperation in environmental technology, counter-terrorism and migration.

The Canadian Minister, who is on a three-nation tour of Saudi Arabia, India and Israel, will be accompanied by Mr Deepak Obhrai, M P, Parliamentary Secretary for Foreign Affairs.

''The main purpose of the Canadian Foreign Minister's visit to India will be to have discussions with External Affairs Minister.

The visit, coming after his assuming office in August, 2007, may be seen in the context of the priority accorded by the Canadian Government to strengthening trade and economic linkages with India,'' an External Affairs Ministry spokesman said here.

Soon after taking over as Prime Minister of Canada in January, 2006, Prime Minister Stephen Harper had identified several focus areas for the bilateral relationship in his message of thanks in response to the congratulatory letter from Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, which included trade and investment, implementation of S and T agreement, cooperation in environmental technology and also cooperation in counter-terrorism and migration issues.

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