Canada PM Justin Trudeau, family ‘touchdown’ for a ‘busy’ India visit
NEW DELHI : Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has arrived in the national capital to start his week-long visit that is seen aimed as much at deepening ties with India, as the huge Indian diaspora back home.
The trip, the 46-year-old Prime Minister said before taking the long-haul flight to India, was focused on creating good jobs and strengthening the “deep connection between the people of our two countries”.
He will be busy with a string of official bilateral engagements throughout his visit. Besides his meetings in the capital, Trudeau is set to visit Agra on February 18. He will be visiting the Taj Mahal there with his wife and three children.
On February 19 the Canadian PM will travel to Gujarat, home state of his host Narendra Modi. He will visit Sabarmati Ashram and Akshardham temple in Gandhi Nagar. He will be attending an event by Indian Institute of Management-Ahmedabad.
The next day, February 20, he will fly down to Mumbai where he is expected to hold meetings with business leaders and Indian Film industry’s representatives to explore various opportunities in the field of cinema.
Besides his engagements in Delhi, Trudeau will visit Agra, Ahmedabad, Mumbai and Amritsar. Officials said Trudeau’s visit to Gujarat will be first by a Canadian prime minister. Justin Trudeau will be the first Canadian prime minister to visit Gujarat.
Trudeau will then travel to Amritsar in Punjab on February 21 where he will visit the Golden Temple. He is scheduled to arrive in Delhi the same day where he will visit Jama Masjid. The next day, the prime minister will also try his hand at cricket, India’s beloved sport, on February 22. He will hold wide-ranging talks with Prime Minister Modi on February 23.
When Internet thought Jennifer Aniston divorced Canada PM Justin Trudeau. The next day, he is scheduled to address a conference of young change-makers before wrapping up his visit.
The ties between India and Canada have been on an upswing. Approximately 1.4 million Canadians are of Indian heritage and India is Canada’s second largest source of immigrants. Canada is also a leading education destination for Indian students, and India is the second largest source of international students, an estimated 124,000 in 2017, as per official figures.
The Canadian Prime Minister, who had once famously remarked that he had more Sikhs in his cabinet than PM Narendra Modi, has the entire line-up accompanying him on this visit.
“Wheels up for India and a busy visit,” PM Trudeau tweeted, with a picture of his wife Sophie Gregoire Trudeau and three children – the youngest, Hadrian, turns four nexy week – boarding the aircraft. The delegation will be in India for seven days.
In 2017, two-way merchandise trade between Canada and India amounted to $8.4 billion, split equally between exports to and imports from India. That same year, India was Canada’s eighth largest destination for merchandise exports.
There have been suggestions that Canadian investments could decline due to the absence of a mechanism to protect them. On February 23, Friday, he is slated to meet PM Modi where the possibility of an economic partnership pact could be firmed up.(With Agency Inputs).
