On Modi’s invite, Canada PM to visit India in February
NEWDELHI: Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau will arrive in India on February 17 for a weeklong visit that will span five cities and involve plenty of work and some play.
While Trudeau will be in India at the invitation of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, his visit will include a stop in Ahmedabad, the latter’s home state and now increasingly featuring on the itineraries of foreign dignitaries.
Trudeau will pay visit to Swaminarayan Akshardham i n Ahmedabad. The charismatic Canadian leader will also visit the Taj Mahal in Agra with a distinct possibility that he will be accompanied by his wife Sophie Gregoire.
Also on the schedule for the visit, which will conclude on February 23, are Mumbai and Amritsar. He will visit the Golden Temple, which reflects the importance given to the large number of Sikhs within the IndoCanadian community.
A large business delegation will accompany Trudeau, and trade ties will be an important facet of his Mumbai stop.
Some of Trudeau’s cabinet colleagues, including Indo-canadian minister for innovation, science and economic development Navdeep Bains and minister of international trade Fançois-philippe Champagne, are likely to join the trip.
In addition, nearly a dozen members of Canada’s Parliament, of Indian heritage, will also arrive with Trudeau.
In a statement released by the Canadian Prime Minister’s Office, Trudeau said, “Canada and India share a special bond and are linked by tremendous people-to-people connections. The more than one million Canadians of Indian origin make the relationship...a truly special one. I look forward to meeting with Prime Minister Modi and further strengthening the Canada-india friendship.”
It added this visit will provide an opportunity for Trudeau to “connect with Indian leaders in government and business, promote the empowerment of women and girls, and strengthen Canada and India’s close economic ties”. Trudeau and Modi will “reaffirm the close friendship between our two countries, and discuss ways to create good middle class jobs for Canadians and Indians”, it said.