Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be visiting Toronto, Ottawa and Vancouver from April 14 to 16 during his trip to Canada. He will be in Vancouver on April 16.
Here are some quick facts about his visit:
Narendra Modi is the first Prime Minister to make an official visit to Canada since the early 1970s. This will be his first bilateral visit to Canada after he took charge as the Prime Minister of India.
The main purpose of the Prime Minister’s visit is to enhance ties with Canada. It is believed that he would be holding extensive meetings with numerous leaders and officials in Canada, and would be meeting business leaders in Ottawa and Toronto.
Prime Minister Modi will pay tribute to the victims of the 1985 Kanishka bombing during his visit to Toronto. Sources state that he will also visit the Humber Bay Park memorial for the victims at Lake Ontario waterfront.
Modi will pay a visit to Khalsa Diwan Society Gurdwara on Ross Street in Vancouver, and then to Laxmi Narayan Mandir in Surrey, and later attend an official banquet in Vancouver hosted by Prime Minister Stephen Harper.
During the visist, Modi and Harper will discuss increased co-operation in the fields of science and technology, innovation, education, security, counter-terrorism and energy.
“Canada and India enjoy a close friendship based on shared values of democracy, pluralism and a mutual interest in expanding trade,” Harper said in a news release.
Harper first met Modi on the margins of the G‑20 Summit in Australia in November 2014.
India, being Canada’s largest trading partner in South Asia and a priority market under Canada’s Global Markets Action Plan, it can look to Canada for much of what it needs - namely food security, energy security, infrastructure, and education and skills development.
Canada has been negotiating with India on a free-trade agreement as well as a foreign investment protection agreement for years. Media reports also suggest that India is poised to announce that holders of Canadian passports can obtain visas upon arrival in India.
