Justin Trudeau visits IIM Ahmedabad: Here are top 5 quotes of Canadian PM

New Delhi: The 46-year-old Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who is on a 7-day maiden tour to India, visited Gujarat on Monday. 

Following his visit to the Sabarmati Ashram in Ahmedabad, the Canadian Prime Minister attended an event at Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad (IIM-A). 

The Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau talked about the growth potential of the Indo-Canadian partnership here on Monday in a town hall at IIM-A. 

Speaking at IIM-A, the Canadian PM stated that while the Indo-Canadian bilateral trade stood at $8 billion in goods and $2 billion in services, it had the potential to grow, especially in the farm sector.

Here, are the top 5 quotes of Justin Trudeau at IIM Ahmedabad:

1. On agriculture sector, Trudeau said, "When you think of natural connections between India and Canada, especially in the field of agriculture or pulses, where we have slight challenges. We are discussing the potential of growth in pulses."

2. Talking about peace and non-violence, the Canadian PM invoked Mahatma Gandhi and said, "It takes a tremendous amount of strength to be strong, without having to be aggressive, without having to pick fights, instead of looking to better understand each other, to better question yourself."

3. Talking about immigration, Trudeau stated that in the current scenario both the countries believed the society was moving towards increased heterogeneity. "As you get more pluralistic, language, religion, ethnicity, ideology should be anchored in shared values, that society subscribes to," he said on reducing barriers between the two countries.

4. In the wake of challenges in the media, Trudeau said that while the current times were "frustrating", it was also important for the media to be supported. "Independent media is essential for successful democracy," he said.

5. Commenting on dividing society on the basis of ethnicity and religious lines, Trudeau said the move was a "tribal" approach to civilisation."There are two paths, you can either amplify the anxiety in the world by blaming a particular ethnic or religious group for all the troubles in the society or you can take a more successful pluralistic approach, when you actually meet people with the different story and believe that we meet them and grow," he said.