Minister of Foreign Affairs John Baird reaffirmed Canada鈥檚 relationship with India as a 鈥渟trategic priority鈥� and celebrated policies already underway to develop partnerships in education between the two countries at the Canada-India Education Summit at 杏吧原创 University Friday.
鈥淭he relationship between Canada and India has come so far over the past five years,鈥� said Baird, commending the leadership of Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Dr. Manmohan Singh, Prime Minister of India. 鈥淲e look forward to accelerating deliverables as part of the Canada-India Memorandum of Understanding in higher education cooperation.鈥�
The keynote address was presented by Dr. Daggubati Purandeswari, Indian Minister of State for Human Resource Development (Higher Education).
鈥淓ducation can no longer be considered a goal in itself, but rather should be considered a powerful driver of socio-economic change,鈥� she said. Purandeswari focused her remarks on reforms being implemented to improve India鈥檚 education system, emphasizing the importance of access for people in poverty and living in less-served rural areas.
High Commissioner for India to Canada Shashishekhar Gavai noted that India鈥檚 high growth rate makes it attractive to foreign investors, but added that 鈥淲ithout an adequate, educated, and trained workforce, it is very difficult to maintain high economic growth 鈥� I strongly believe that foreign universities can add enormous value to what we would be doing in India.鈥�
The summit, which brought together nearly 50 Vice Chancellors and Executive Heads from Indian and Canadian universities, is the first event of its kind to bring together educational experts from both countries.
Individuals in attendance included Allan Rock, president of the University of Ottawa; Kevin Lynch, vice-chair of BMO Financial Group; and Professor M. S. Swaminathan, a major scientific leader of India鈥檚 鈥済reen revolution鈥� in agriculture slated to speak later at the summit.
The summit runs through today.
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