Manmohan Singh

It will be Harper's first trip to India and his office has a jam-packed dawn-to-dusk itinerary that includes political, commercial, cultural and spiritual events. He will, for example, visit the Golden Temple in Amritsar and, in Delhi, lay a wreath at Raj Ghat, the cremation site of Mahatma Gandhi. In New Delhi, he will visit Chabad House, the Jewish outreach centre that was attacked by Pakistani Islamist terrorists in 2008. In addition to meeting Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Harper will also have a meeting with Sonia Gandhi, the influential chairwoman of the United Progressive Alliance. 'This is a very ambitious agenda for India,' said Dimitri Soudas, Harper's chief spokesman. 'There is a tremendous amount of untapped potential to the Canada-India relationship.' A key focus for the trip will be improved trade relations with India, a country of 1.2 billion people whose economy is rapidly expanding despite the recession. Two-way trade between the two countries is tiny, at just $2 billion a year, but officials in both countries believe the time is right to increase that amount. Officials with Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd., for example, will be in India during the prime minister's visit as they pursue opportunities in nuclear energy production. Other firms, like Montreal-based SNC-Lavalin, will be there hopeful of winning contracts to help India build up its public infrastructure. Indian investors are keen to tap into Canada's energy and natural resources sector. While officials with the prime minister's office would not speculate on the types of trade deals they expect to discuss, Canadian industry officials believe Harper and Singh will announce that the two countries have agreed on a framework for negotiations that could lead to a free-trade agreement. The two countries are also close to completing negotiations on a foreign investor protection agreement or FIPA that is a crucial first step toward new Indian

Both the Lower and Upper House of the Indian Parliament witnessed stormy proceedings and were adjourned till noon on Tuesday (April 27). Federal government's main opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) protested against the absence of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh from the Parliament. BJP leader in the Lok Sabha (lower House) Sushma Swaraj slammed Singh for rejecting their demand for a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) probe into the IPL muddle and phone tapping allegations. The Prime Minister on Monday (April 26) rejected the Opposition demand for a JPC probe on the issues saying that this is not a fit case for JPC. The BJP leader also asked Speaker Meira Kumar to talk to the Prime Minister. 'We were waiting that the Prime Minister will come to the House and will talk about the issue we had raised. But today after reading the newspapers, I was saddened to know that the Prime Minister has rejected our demands outside the Parliament only. This is not an ordinary issue. This is an attempt to insult the House and to suppress corruption. Two ministers names cropped up in the IPL controversy...some flights were even diverted...I would like you to take personal note in the matter and speak to the Prime Minister,' said Swaraj. The Speaker adjourned the house till noon. In the Rajya Sabha, uproar continued as Opposition parties protested against the rising prices and the IPL controversy. Chairman Hamid Ansari adjourned the house till noon. The BJP-led Opposition is all set to introduce a cut motion in Parliament on Tuesday, as on Monday it issued a whip to all its lawmakers. If the motion is carried, the government is bound to resign.

Last week, the Obama administration hosted the first state dinner for a foreign visitor, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh of India. It is mostly ritual activities, but there is some chance for progress on issues.

Nov. 24: At the first state dinner of the Obama administration, the president and Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh offer a toast to the partnership between the two countries.