Cowsik retired from foreign service and will now settle down in Pune, said Indian High Commission spokesman, Vinod Sachdev. She is being succeeded by R L Narayan, who's currently Indian Ambassador in Kuala Lumpur.

Sachdev doesn't know as to when he would reach Ottawa and present his credentials to the Canadian Governor-General.

In the meantime, Neeraj Srivastava, currently Deputy High Commissioner, would serve as acting High Commissioner.

Narayan belongs to the 1972 foreign service batch, while Cowsik belongs to 1969 batch.

Narayan was posted to Moscow, Washington, Maldives, Yugoslavia, Thailand, Moscow, etc. He was India's first Ambassador to Qatar, then went to Poland, and most recently to Malaysia. He's 58.

It's interesting to note that most Indian High Commissioners are posted to Canada when they reach the stage of their last posting: S J S Chhatwal, Rajni Kanta Verma, and now Cowsik, all retired after serving for varying periods here depending on their age.

Shashi Tripathi was the only exception. She quickly left for Delhi in September 2004, after serving for about two years as High Commissioner in Ottawa as she was named Secretary (West) in the Ministry of External Affairs.

Amongst Indian High Commissioners whom this reporter has known since 1986, Cowsik was seen mostly in Toronto and travelled across Canada invariably on lecture tours, discussions and for participating in seminars and workshops.

When asked by this reporter in a recent interview about her travels, Cowsik asserted, "The circumstances now warrant such incessant travel, and I find it most stimulating and, hopefully, productive."

About the visit of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to Canada, she said, "Our Prime Minister has accepted the invitation from the Government of Canada."

This visit, "Should take place in 2007, perhaps in the early part of the year..."

The fact that Cowsik has gone back to India and it may take a few weeks before her successor takes over, Indian Prime minister's visit to Canada is less likely to materialise soon.

Cowsik's assertion that he would come "perhaps in the early part of the year" is not likely to happen or else the Indian Government would have given some extension to Cowsik to stay in Ottawa.

She believed "...there are no specific difficulties at the political level (between India and Canada)" and that both sides are likely to "focus on expanding trade and investment, cooperation in S&T, as also between the respective civil societies, in the academic and cultural fields."

The actual trade between India and Canada reached $3 billion (Canada) in 2006. "The trade figures grew by 17 per cent over 2005. For the first time in 2005, Canadian exports to India crossed one billion dollars.

Our trade exchanges, till recently largely limited to conventional items, are now expanding to unexplored areas, such as mining, oil and gas, and even higher education. 

"While Canadian business is, overall, rather conservative as regards foreign ventures... they are becoming more outgoing vis-�-vis India of  late" and,  according to her, "...there are reassuring indications that change for the better is under way."