Trudeau Sets Foot In New Delhi, Modi Welcomes With A ‘Memorable’ Tweet

Prime Minister Narendra Modi turned a dutiful host on Friday (23 February) when he tweeted a welcome to Canadian Prime Minster Justin Trudeau. He said in particular, he looked forward to meeting his children. Modi also tweeted an image of himself of trying to pull Trudeau’s daughter Ella-Grace’s ears.

Trudeau responded with his tweet saying Ella-Grace remembers the incidents and said his visit to India has been great so far.

Late on Thursday evening, Modi tweeted that he looked forward to his meeting with the Canadian Prime Minister and improving bilateral relations.

On Friday, Trudeau was given a guard of honour at Rashtrapati Bhavan and the Prime Minister posed for a photograph with his family there. Both leaders are scheduled to hold talks later in the day.

Trudeau’s week-long visit to India has been mired in controversy, particularly over the closeness of some of his cabinet ministers with the Khalistani elements in Canada. Initially, his official meetings were not confirmed with the Modi Government and Congress-led Punjab Government seen in sync protesting his ministers’ stand. The centre of the controversy was an invitation to Jaspal Atwal, accused of trying to kill former Punjab Chief Minister Malkiat Singh Sidhu in 1986. The invitation was withdrawn after a hue and cry was raised in the media.

Since then, Trudeau’s visit has been a breeze starting with a meeting he had with Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amrinder Singh before the scene shifted to New Delhi. The Canadian Prime Minister’s India visit ends 24 February.