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Smita Sharma
Tribune News Service
New Delhi, January 22
Prime Minister of Canada Justin Trudeau will be on his first official visit to India from February 17 to 23. During his weeklong state visit, Trudeau will travel to Agra, Amritsar, Ahmedabad, Mumbai and New Delhi to visit several landmarks, including Taj Mahal, Golden Temple, Jama Masjid and Swaminarayan Akshardham temple in Delhi.
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Trudeau’s visit follows Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s bilateral visit to Canada in April 2015. The last visit of a Canadian Prime Minister to India was in November 2012.
As per the Ministry of External Affairs, “The visit is aimed at further strengthening bilateral relations between the two countries in key areas of mutual interest, including trade and investment, energy, science and innovation, higher education, infrastructure development, skill development and space.”
Security and counter-terrorism components will also be key to the conversations. While in India, Trudeau will engage with the youth and participate in several business round tables and promote women empowerment.
India and Canada share a strong diaspora connect. Approximately 3.6 per cent of Canadians are of Indian heritage and India is Canada’s second largest source of immigrants.
There are four Sikh ministers in Trudeau’s Cabinet, including Defence Minister. For the first time in the country’s history, a minority Sikh leader Jagmit Singh is the leader of the New Democratic Party and is being looked upon as a serious challenger to Trudeau in the next elections.
“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 between our two countries a truly special one. I look forward to meeting with Prime Minister Modi, and further strengthening the Canada-India friendship,” said Trudeau in an official release.
The two sides will also take this opportunity to address irritants in the relationship especially sentiments surrounding Khalistani movement and reports of support mobilisation by radical Sikhs in Canada. Also a Sikh legislator in Ontario, Harinder Malhi, who moved a motion to recognise 1984 anti-Sikh riots as ‘genocide’, was given a Cabinet berth last week in the province. India rejected the motion.
During Trudeau’s debut visit to India there will be attempts to iron out these sharp differences. Canadian High Commissioner to India Nadir Patel said, “This visit reflects the high level of priority that Prime Minister Trudeau places on this strategic partnership. Prime Minister Trudeau’s visit builds on visits by 11 Cabinet ministers of the Trudeau government in the past 18 months.”
11 Cabinet ministers have visited India since Trudeau became PM in November 2015.
In 2016, two-way merchandise trade between Canada and India totalled $8 billion.
Bilateral trade in services reached $2.1 billion in 2016.
Canadian investment into India has increased by over $15 billion over past 3 years.
Canada leading education destination for Indian students.
Approximately 124,000 Indians held a valid Canadian study permit in 2017.
More than one million Canadians are of Indian-origin.
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