An open skies policy between India and Canada featured prominently in discussions during a meeting on Tuesday between Union Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia and his Canadian counterpart.
Scindia, who is on an official three-day visit to Canada, met with Canada’s minister of transport Omar Alghabra in Ottawa. This was the first bilateral visit by an Indian Cabinet Minister to Canada in over two years. The last was by External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar in December 2019 when he met then Canadian foreign minister François-Philippe Champagne.
Speaking to the Hindustan Times, Scindia said the policy will be pursued “to promote greater facilitation from both countries in terms of connectivity”.
An open skies framework involves unlimited direct and indirect flights between the countries. He said he had “a very fruitful exchange” with Alghabra.
“We outlined the next steps on our engagement with Canada,” he said.
Among the next steps is an memorandum of understanding (MoU) “to be signed on civil aviation cooperation,which will talk about MROs (maintenance, overhaul and repair), helicopter emergency medical services, aircraft manufacturing, pretty much across the board,” he said.
The MoU was signed in 2016 and expired in 2019 and needs to be revalidated. Scindia said that should be possible in two weeks.
“We’re waiting for a revert from the Canadian ad they’ve promised to revert (as soon as possible),” he said. The agreement will focus on deepening technical cooperation in the aviation sector.
Also on the agenda was an Air Transport Agreement (ATA) between the two countries.
Restrictions due to the Covid-19 pandemic are now “all in the past,” Scindia said, adding, “We have 20 flights from Canada to India and 10 flights from India to Canada.”
The ATA is a legally binding document for open skies.
“India and Canada have agreed to step up numbers of direct flights and to work towards an open skies regime,” India’s High Commissioner to Ottawa Ajay Bisaria tweeted after the bilateral meeting.
In a tweet, Alghabra described the meeting as “productive.”
“I personally thanked my counterpart for India’s help in repatriating Canadians stuck in India in the beginning of the pandemic. Looking forward to more conversations to open up travel between the two countries including flights to Amritsar,” he added.
Scindia also visited the facilities of the Canadian company Bombardier in Montreal and that of Airbus Canada in Mirabel, both in the province of Quebec.
Scindia will complete his visit to Canada on Wednesday. He has a full day of official meetings at the International Civil Aviation Organisation or ICAO, the United Nations agency headquartered in Montreal.