Tuesday, November 17, 2009

Harper fails to tickle Indian fancy

Stephen Harper, the Canadian prime minister, is on a visit to India.  The purpose of Premier’s visit is to increase trade and strengthen other economic ties between India and Canada.  It appears however that the Canadian prime minister has failed to tickle the Indian fancy.

The graph presented below shows searches conducted for the word “Canada” by the Internet users logging in from within India during the past month.  The graph does not show any increase in the interest in Canada by net surfing Indians. One would have hoped to see the Canadian prime minister raising an interest about Canada and Canadians amongst Indians, especially while the Canadian prime minister is visiting India.  It appears that his visit has not generated any meaningful increase in curiosity about Canada in India.

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The Canadian prime minister's visit to India is not a frontpage news in Canada. It is almost the same in India as well where the newspapers have carried stories of local concerns on their front pages.  In a center page spread in Canada's national newspaper, the Globe and Mail, the Canadian prime minister is photographed with a jubilant dancing young girl of Indian origin who happens to be from Canada.  The front page of India's major newspaper, the Hindu, primarily highlights stories from the neighboring Pakistan.

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The Hindu on November 17, 2009

The interest about Canada in India depicts spatial trends.  The map below shows that most internet searches conducted for Canada are from the Indian State of Punjab, which is the ancestral  home of many Punjabi immigrants to Canada.

 

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