India and Canada are jointly working to give a new direction for bilateral foreign investment agreement, in order to gain momentum in investments, where this agreement in future will benefit the investors from both the countries by providing 'greater certainty' for Canadian firms with existing investments in India. It will also promote Canada as a destination for foreign investment, opening up markets for Indian corporations looking for new opportunities abroad. Further, it will promote economic relations between the two countries and accelerate two-way investments.
Jason Kenney, Canada's Minister of National Defence and Minister for Multiculturalism said this agreement is aimed to protect the investors by defining their legally binding rights and obligations and will also give momentum to Indo-Canada economic relations. It will also bring new 'legal regime' that would boost bilateral investment, while issues like taxation and expropriation would be resolved soon.
Earlier, Indian Prime Minister Modi and Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper had welcomed the continuing diversification, growth and deepening of bilateral relations in recent years, rooted in shared values of democracy, pluralism, tolerance, human rights and rule of law, and based on expanding economic engagement and long-standing people-to-people ties. The leaders agreed to take concrete measures to expand bilateral cooperation in key areas including the economy, trade and investment, civil nuclear cooperation, energy, education and skills development, agriculture, defence and security, science, technology, innovation and space, culture, people-to-people ties, and regional and global issues.