Sushma Swaraj to meet Canadian counterpart ahead of PM Modi-Trudeau talks

New Delhi: External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj will on Thursday hold a strategic-level dialogue with her Canadian counterpart Chrystia Freeland ahead of a bilateral meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Canadian counterpart Justin Trudeau on Friday.

Apart from her meeting with Sushma Swaraj, Freeland will also meet Commerce and Industry Minister Suresh Prabhu later today, according to the MEA.

Freeland will also be part of the Canadian delegation that will participate in Friday's bilateral parleys.

Freeland is part of the delegation accompanying Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau who is on an official visit to India.

Trudeau arrived here last week along with his family and a delegation of ministers and business leaders.

After visiting Agra, Ahmedabad and Mumbai, Trudeau had visited Amritsar on Wednesday where he, his wife and children prayed at the Golden Temple.

Trudeau also met Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh.

Trudeau, during his meeting with Singh, said that his country did not support any separatist movement in India or elsewhere. Amarinder Singh later said that he raised the issue of 'Khalistan' and the support certain elements in Canada were given to it to cause a disturbance in Punjab.

"The categorical assurance from Trudeau came when Captain Amarinder Singh sought the Canadian Prime Minister's cooperation in cracking down on separatism and hate crime by a fringe element, constituting a negligible percentage of Canada's population. 

"Citing the separatist movement in Quebec, Trudeau said he had dealt with such threats all his life and was fully aware of the dangers of violence, which he had always pushed back with all his might," Chief Minister's Media Advisor Raveen Thukral disclosed after their 40-minute meeting.

Amarinder Singh thanked Trudeau for his explicit stand on a united India.

There are 1.2 million people of Indian origin in Canada and around 500,000 of them hail from Punjab.

The bilateral trade between the two countries Canada stood at $6.05 billion in 2016. 

The two countries are also working on a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA).

(With Agency inputs)