He urged the global investors to come out of fear psychosis and grab the opportunity in the medium-term.

Inaugurating the India World Economic Forum-2012 here in this satellite township close to Delhi on Wednesday, he said that global business was gripped in the fear of a 2008-style financial catastrophe which was holding back the global recovery but business must be more confident and seek out investment opportunities in the medium-term.

Harper is confident that the negotiations between India and Canada on a bilateral Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) will be concluded by the end of 2013.

He compared India and Canada to lovers depicted in Hindi Bollywood movies who must overcome obstacles to get together.

“There is a kind of parallel to Canada and India and the typical Bollywood plot,” he said. “We have to work determinedly to get to the happy ending we want.”

India and Canada are co-chairs of G20 sub-group for developing framework for strong, sustainable and balanced growth.

“We can’t get over the overhang” of the global financial crisis that followed the collapse of Lehman Brothers in US in 2008, unless business community display more confidence in making investments and help repair the global economy, he said and termed such fears overblown

“Don’t worry about today’s uncertainty – look at the opportunities over the medium term,” said Harper, noting this was the strategy being pursued by Canada whose growth is the best among leading industrialised nations.

Noting the signs of rising global trade protectionism like that which hampered recovery from the Great Depression in the 1930s and which could still push the world into a prolonged recession, Harper said “But it (protectionism) is not an avalanche – it is not yet something to panic about.”

“Most leaders get it on the big picture” that protectionism will harm rather than help their economies, he said.

As a comprehensive deal in the WTO on the basis on the Doha round is difficult at this stage Canada is negotiating multilateral and bilateral trade deals with countries such as India.

He said that Canada can no longer solely depend upon big traditional partners like the US be be markets for its exports.

“Our foreign investment negotiations have come much of the way but we have to be serious about getting them across the finish line,” he said.

On Tuesday in his bilateral meeting with the Indian Prime Minister Dr Manmoham Singh, both the leaders underscored the considerable potential for mutually-beneficial civil nuclear cooperation, based on the early implementation of the 2010 Bilateral Agreement of Cooperation on Peaceful Uses of Nuclear Energy.

The two Prime Ministers recognized that both countries were leaders in nuclear technology and services, and that the two countries could develop mutually-beneficial partnerships in this regard. They also recognized that Canada, with its large and high-quality reserves of uranium, could become an important supplier to India's nuclear power programme. In this context, they welcomed the conclusion of negotiations on Appropriate Arrangement and looked forward to its early entry into effect, as well as to the inaugural meeting of the Joint Committee created under the Agreement.

The two Prime Ministers also congratulated the Defence Research Development Organization of India and York University of Canada for concluding a Memorandum of Understanding to develop collaboration in areas such as chemical-biological defence and the application of research in advanced materials and nanotechnology to defence. They also noted the growing opportunities for cooperation in defence, especially in the areas of research and training.

India and Canada agreed to elevate their dialogue on energy cooperation to the ministerial level and to explore the possibility of a MoU in the area of oil and gas.

The two Prime Ministers endorsed the decision to commence a Financial Sector Policy Dialogue at an early date, to facilitate mutual understanding of developments in the financial sectors of the two countries, and to discuss and coordinate positions on developments in global fora.

Acknowledging the progress made in the ongoing negotiations for an Audio-Visual Co-production Treaty, the two Prime Ministers agreed that both sides would make their best endeavours to conclude the Treaty in 2013. They recognized that when finalized, the Treaty would contribute to both India’s and Canada’s economies and enhance trade between the two countries.

India-Canada Joint Working Group on Counter-terrorism is scheduled to meet in New Delhi on November 29.

Canada will set up winter sports facility in India.

India and Canada signed an agreement on social security to enable coordination of specific pension programmes in the two countries, for the benefit of working professionals, businesses, and retirees in both countries. The two countries also signed a MoU on cooperation in information, communication technology and electronics. However an agreement on modalities for Canada’s sale of uranium to India, treaty on transfer of offenders and an agreement on transfer of sentenced persons are still pending.