Bardish Chagger, Leader of the Government in the House of Commons and Minister of Small Business and Tourism, concluded her visit to New Delhi. This was the first stop during her trip to India to strengthen bilateral relations and promote greater ties between Canadian and Indian small businesses and tour operators. She now travels to Mumbai. While in New Delhi, Chagger met with the Indo-Canadian Business Chamber (ICBC) to discuss trade and business relations between India and Canada. She also spoke at the ICBC annual awards dinner, during which she emphasized the strong cultural and economic ties between Canada and India. Chagger also met with a number of Cabinet ministers of the Union Government of India, including Nirmala Sitharaman, Minister of State for Commerce and Industry; Ananth Kumar, Minister of Parliamentary Affairs; Kalraj Mishra, Minister of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprise (MSME) and Haribhai Parthibhai Chaudhary, Minister of State for MSME; as well as Dr. Mahesh Sharma, Minister of State for Culture and Tourism. The Minister also toured the Parliament of India and met with several Indian parliamentarians. On March 28, Chagger hosted a round-table with women entrepreneurs from the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI). She then participated in an announcement with DataWind, a Mississauga-based ICT manufacturer, to celebrate the launch of VidyaTab-Punjabi, a Punjabi-language education tablet. Later, the Minister attended a round-table on promoting Canada–India tourism, which included representatives from the travel sectors of both countries and from Destination Canada, Canada’s tourism marketing agency. Chagger concluded her stay in New Delhi with a meeting with the Self-Employed Women’s Association (SEWA), an organization of self-employed women. The Minister discussed the importance of women’s economic empowerment with several young women entrepreneurs who are working hard to earn additional income for their families.
