Red carpet welcome for Canadian PM at Rashtrapati Bhavan, meets PM Modi

Canadian premier Justin Trudeau met Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday at his ceremonial welcome in Delhi's Rashtrapati Bhavan. PM Modi greeted Trudeau with his signature bear-hug and posed for photographs with his family.

Following his official welcome at the Rashtrapati Bhavan in New Delhi, Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau and his family paid tribute to Mahatma Gandhi at Rajghat.

#Delhi: Canadian Prime Minister #JustinTrudeau & his family pay tribute to Mahatma Gandhi at Rajghat. pic.twitter.com/M3sDqfgmPy

— ANI (@ANI) February 23, 2018

Justin Trudeau will hold talks with Prime Minister Narendra Modi later today. The meeting will be done to power the India-Canada bilateral relations. The bilateral talks between the two will focus on civil nuclear cooperation, trade, space, climate change, defence, and education. After the delegation level talks between the two, a number of agreements are expected to be signed.

Almost a week after Justin Trudeau arrived in India, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday took to Twitter and said that he is looking forward to meeting the Canadian Prime Minister tomorrow.

It was widely reported earlier that the Union Government had 'snubbed' Trudeau. Questions had also been raised about Trudeau being given a lukewarm response on his arrival in India.

Some had raised questions after Prime Minister Modi had not received the Canadian PM. A customary tweet from the PM welcoming the dignitary was also missing.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi usually breaks protocol to go to the airport to receive important heads of government. But in case of Trudeau, the receiving minister was MoS Agriculture Ganjendra Singh, not even External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj or her two deputies Gen VK Singh or MJ Akbar.

Justin Trudeau, who is accompanied by his wife Sophie and their three children, visited the Taj Mahal earlier this week, but for some reason Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath was conspicuously missing. Barely a month ago, when Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited the Taj, the UP CM personally showed him around.

However, MEA officials clarified that there was no snub as is being reported. The government has gone by the book, the official also said. On being asked if the response was in reaction to the Khalistan issue, the official said that as per protocol the PM does not go to the airport to receive dignitaries. It is only when the situation merits it is there is a departure from the protocol, the officer also explained.

OneIndia News