TORONTO, March 30 /CNW/ - Canada India Foundation, a national public policy organization, urges members of the Indo-Canadian community as well as all Canadian citizens to participate actively in the federal election process by exercising their voting rights.

"People of Indo-Canadian background have contributed greatly to the well-being of Canada, through their hard work, enterprise and emphasis on education," said Ramesh Chotai, Chair, Canada India Foundation, "While it is encouraging to see a number of them now actively participating in the political process as elected representatives and electoral candidates, we look forward to all the political parties seeking out talented community leaders eager to serve the national interests of Canadaconsistent with their public policy perspectives", he said.

Mr. Chotai also urged all political parties to put forth action plans in their election manifesto for developing stronger economic and political ties with emerging economic powers of the world, such as India. Particularly, he emphasized the need to conclude the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement with India, currently under negotiations. The agreement, he said, would pave the way for an order of magnitude increase in bilateral trade between the two countries, channeled through multi-dimensional interactions between federal, provincial, municipal, academic and private sector counterparts with guidance from friends of the Canada-India corridor in elected offices.