New Delhi, February 23: On the last leg of his first state visit to India, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau held formal talks with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday. The Canadian PM was received by Modi with a hug and accorded a ceremonial welcome at Rashtrapati Bhavan earlier.
Talks between the two focused on security partnership, economic cooperation and regional and international situations — Afghanistan, North Korea, Myanmar and the Maldives included.
Amid growing Indian concerns on Trudeau and his government sympathising with Khalistani supporters, terrorism and violent extremism formed an important subject during the formal discussions. “There should not be space for those who misuse religion for political motives and promote separatism. We will not tolerate those who challenge the unity and integrity of our countries,” said Narendra Modi, with Trudeau standing next to him.
The two sides agreed on a “Framework for Cooperation on Countering Terrorism and Violent Extremism” pursuant to talks between the National Security Advisers (NSAs). The leaders agreed to institutionalise NSA-level dialogue and to regularly convene a Foreign Minister-level strategic dialogue.
Naming terror groups, including the Babbar Khalsa, the document reads: “They committed to work together to neutralise the threats emanating from terrorist groups such as Al Qaida, ISIS, the Haqqani Network, LeT, JeM, Babbar Khalsa International and the International Sikh Youth Federation.
“They recognised the urgent imperative to disrupt recruitment, terrorist movements and the flow of foreign terrorist fighters, address the threat posed by cross-border and state-sponsored terrorism, stop sources of terrorist financing, dismantle terrorist infrastructure and prevent supply of arms to terrorists and counter violent extremism and radicalisation to violence.”
However, Trudeau’s press statement did not mention terrorism. Instead, he focused on trade and diaspora ties, calling India a “natural partner and trusted friend” in commercial cooperation. The joint statement issued after the talks seeks to step up negotiations to finalise a “Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement” and a “Bilateral Foreign Investment Promotion and Protection Agreement”. The countries will work closely together to finalise an arrangement within this year to enable the export of Canadian pulses to India free from pests of quarantine importance, with mutually acceptable technological protocols.
Alluding to China, the joint statement calls for “responsible debt financing practices while ensuring respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity” in the Indo-Pacific.
Six cooperation agreements and MoUs, including in areas of civil-nuclear science, higher education, and intellectual property, were exchanged.
A special exception was made for Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s children — Xavier, Ella-Grace and Hadrien — to be at the ceremonial reception at the Rashtrapati Bhavan on Friday, senior officials said. Prime Minister Narendra Modi had on Thursday said he was looking forward to meeting Trudeau’s children and had posted a picture from his 2015 Canada visit, when he had met Trudeau and Ella-Grace. “There was a special exception made for the visiting leader’s children to be at the ceremonial reception,” a senior official said. After the ceremonial reception, Modi tweeted, “Glad that I had the opportunity to meet his family as well”. Modi also posted his picture with Trudeau and his family at the ceremonial reception. PTI
