BackPunjab CM Amarinder Singh confirms he will meet Justin Trudeau on Wednesday
Chief minister 'is all set to take Punjab's close business as well as people-to-people relations with Canada to the next level' with Justin Trudeau, says the statement from Amarinder Singh's office
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New Delhi: Punjab chief minister Amarinder Singh will meet Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau when he visits Punjab on Wednesday, a statement from Singh’s office said.
The confirmation came on Monday, two days after the Canadian prime minister arrived in India amid speculation that he would not be meeting Singh who has criticised the Canadian government’s support for Sikh separatists keen on carving a separate state of Khalistan out of Punjab.
Amritsar is among the many cities Trudeau is visiting before he arrives in New Delhi later this week for talks with Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The Canadian PM arrived in India on Saturday with his family.
The chief minister “is all set to take Punjab’s close business as well as people-to-people relations with Canada to the next level, with a one-to-one meeting" with Trudeau in Amritsar, the statement from Singh’s office said.
The statement said Singh had issued instructions to the state administration to “roll out the red carpet" for Trudeau.
“Look forward to meeting Canadian Prime Minister @JustinTrudeau in Amritsar on Wednesday. I’m hopeful that this meeting will help strengthen the close Indo-Canadian business ties as well as the deep-rooted people-to-people relations between our two countries," Singh said in a Twitter post.
Canada has about 1.4 million people of Indian origin and a large number of them trace their roots to Punjab. Many of these people are seen as supporters of Trudeau’s Liberal Party.
“While trade and business will be the key focus area of the meeting, the two leaders are also expected to discuss steps to intensify the close relations between the people of the two countries," the statement quoted a spokesman of the Chief Minister’s Office as saying.
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