New Delhi: On the eve of his meeting with his Canadian counterpart Justin Trudeau, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday posted a welcome for him. The tweet comes five days after the Canadian Prime Minister and his family landed in India.
"I hope PM @JustinTrudeau and his family had a very enjoyable stay so far. I particularly look forward to meeting his children Xavier, Ella-Grace, and Hadrien. Here is a picture from my 2015 Canada visit, when I'd met PM Trudeau and Ella-Grace," Prime Minister Narendra Modi tweeted.
The Canadian Prime Minister replied, "She remembers it well, @narendramodi! It's been great to visit so far - we'll see you today."
The two leaders are expected to hold a bilateral meeting on Friday.
At Friday's bilateral meeting, Modi and Trudeau are expected to focus on trade, defence, civil nuclear cooperation, space, tackling climate change energy and education.
Cooperation on counter-terror measures is also expected to be a key area of focus in view of India's concerns over Sikh radicalism in Canada.
Trudeau, who is on his maiden visit to India, arrived on Saturday evening and the Canadian PM and his family toured the country amid talks of snub by the political establishment over what's seen as Canada's soft stance on Sikhs who demand Khalistan.
On Thursday, Khalistani terrorist Jaspal Atwal was found to have been invited by Canadian High Commissioner Nadir Patel for a dinner in Delhi.
The dinner invitation to Atwal at a reception for Trudeau at the Canada House was cancelled.
On Tuesday, Atwal had attended an event in Mumbai and was photographed with Justin Trudeau's wife Sophie Trudeau and Canadian minister Amarjeet Sohi.
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The invitations proved a huge embarrassment to Canada and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said he would take action against the person responsible for issuing the invitation to Jaspal Atwal, who was sentenced to 20 years in jail for trying to kill a Punjab minister visiting Canada in 1986. Canadian MP Randeep Sarai has taken the blame and issued an apology.
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Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who arrived at Delhi on Friday, addressed a business summit in the capital and visited Jama Masjid. He also visited the Modern High School's cricket grounds, where he and his three children tried their hands at batting.
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Earlier, on Wednesday, Justin Trudeau and his family visited the Golden Temple in Amritsar, the holiest shrine for Sikhs. They offered Kar Seva and were seen trying to make rotis under the guidance of celebrity chef Vikas Khanna.
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The Trudeaus have also visited the Taj Mahal in Agra, Mahatma Gandhi's ashram at Sabarmati in Gujarat, addressed the students at the prestigious Indian Institute of Management in Ahmedabad and met Bollywood celebrities Shah Rukh Khan and Aamir Khan.
The absence of any welcome tweet from Prime Minister Narendra Modi -- who had broken protocol to receive several world leaders at the airport -- is seen as a snub.
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Prime Minister Narendra Modi had not accompanied Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau during his visit home state Gujarat either, a courtesy that was extended to Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Chinese President Xi Jinping.
The visit of the 46-year-old Prime Minister -- who once remarked that he had more Sikhs in his cabinet than Prime Minister Narendra Modi - is seen as an outreach to the Sikhs residing in Canada, who form a chunk of Trudeau's domestic constituency. An estimated 1.4 million people of Indian origin are settled in Canada.
