Indian Bar Opposes Foreign Lawyers

The Bar Council of India and the state bar councils have together urged the central government not to alter laws to permit the entry of foreign law firms into the practice of law in India. News.IndLaw.com has the story. In this they’re backed up by the British Indian Lawyers Association, which represents Indian lawyers practising in the United Kingdom and which argues that such a change should be reciprocal, happening only when the U.K. allows Indian firms in. The Economic Times has that aspect of the story. The Times adds it’s voice to the controversy in “India — the final legal frontier,” taking the position that the inability of British law firms to open up practice in India is an embarrassment to their global ambitions.

Where is Canada in this? Am I right in assuming that Indian law firms cannot practice in any of the provinces and neither can our firms practice in India? Are we embarrassed?