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 Authoritative
sources told India Strategic that
his appointment has been cleared at the highest
levels, and that the Ministry of External Affairs
should be sending a proposal shortly to the Canadian
Foreign Affairs Ministry to seek its concurrence.
Once that comes, Adm Verma should leave for Ottawa
to take over his new assignment immediately as
the Canadian Prime Minister is due to visit India
in the near future.
The concurrence is expressed in what is known
in the diplomatic jargon as the Agreement, and
colloquially spoken in French.
An Ambassador, or a High Commissioner in the
case of Commonwealth countries, is regarded as
the direct representative of the sovereign –
the President of India in this case – as
per the established diplomatic practices. Exceptions
notwithstanding, the procedure of sending a proposal
and seeking agreement is a formality.
There is no High Commisioner in place in Ottawa
at the moment, the last envoy, Shashishekhar M
Gavai, having retired from the Indian Foreign
Service (IFS) at the end of August 2012.
So did Adm Verma from the Indian Navy.
Notably, two Services officers in the past, General
JN Chaudhuri (Jul 1966 -Aug 69) and General TN
Raina (Feb 1979 - May 80) were given this assignment
to Canada after their retirement as Chiefs of
the Army Stafff.
Adm Verma was last in Canada in May this year
at the invitation of the Canadian Chief of Defence
Staff. He has played a key role in the modernisation
of the Indian Navy ever since he was the Assistant
Chief of the Naval Staff (Policy & Plans)
and also in naval diplomacy. After the 26/11 terror
attack in Mumbai in 2008, Prime Minister Manmohan
Singh himself called for files on Navy’s
modernisation plans and in Jan 2009, most of them
were cleared in one shot.
Despite the delays in the construction and commissioning
of ships, the Indigenous Aircraft Carrier (IAC)
at Cochin and some others at Mazagon Dock Ltd.,
and elsewhere, the Navy is on a steady path to
acquire at least five ships every year for the
next 10 years, a commendable pace by any standard.
Adm Verma (Retd) should be back in South Block
within the next few days – albeit a few rooms
away from the prestigious offices he occupied
– to take briefings from MEA officials and
go through classified and unclassified files on
Indo-Canadian relations.
Canada is important for India because of its
gas and nuclear technology and resources, for
which agreements are in place.
Interestingly, in May 1974, ten days after India’s
nuclear test, Canada was the first country to
break nuclear ties with India, a development reported
by this writer then.
Adm Verma's appointment should formally be announced
only after the Agreement is received from the
Canadian Government.
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