Toronto: The Canada-India Business Council (C-IBC), the premier body promoting trade between the two countries, will take an education mission to India this month.

Ed-Mission 2008 by the C-IBC, in partnership with the International Center for Education (ICE), begins on Nov 16.

Co-led by C-IBC outgoing president Kam Rathee, the education mission will visit Mumbai and Bangalore before attending the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) Higher Education Summit, which has designated Canada as its partner country this year.

At the Education at the Crossroads summit, the Canadian mission will meet with over 50 Indian institutions for the two-day summit to forge ties between the educational institutions in the two countries in key areas of education and research.

"One of the aims of this mission is to continue the momentum the council has created and forge partnerships between Canadian and Indian educational institutions - joint ventures in India and Canada or aid in the opening of free standing Canadian colleges and universities in India," the C-IBC said in a statement here.

"The partner status for Canada is the result of two years of hard work put in promoting two major events in Canada - Canada and India: A Synergy in Education in July 2007 and Synergy II in June 2008," the statement added.

"The education wing of the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade (DFAIT) has lent its support to the C-IBC in its foray into the Canada-India education corridor," it added.

Ewan College, Memorial University, the University of Lethbridge, McMaster University, Michener Institute, Dalhousie University, Centennial College, and the University of Saskatchewan are among the major institutions on the mission.

The Quebec international relations ministry is also part of the mission.

Husain F. Neemuchwala, who is chair of the C-IBC education committee and president of the ICE, will be the co-leader of the mission. IANS