Thank you, Minister, and thanks to your staff, and the department as well, for doing all the hard work you have been doing on this file.
My questions will not be on estimates but on the India file.
Minister, in your opening statement you said that one in five Canadian jobs were trade-related, and that Canada's economy depends on our success as a trading nation. Now India, with 1.2 billion consumers, is one of the largest and fastest-growing emerging economies in the world. As we move towards an ambitious trade agreement with India, the ties between our countries, both economically and culturally, are becoming even stronger, and this can only benefit Canadians' jobs and economic growth.
In your recent trade trip to India, you focused on education and the potential of infrastructure being built in India. I'd like you to make some detailed comments on what the government has been doing to build on our relations with India. During all these negotiations, did you have any consultations with stakeholders, and whom did you have those consultations with? What interest has industry been showing?