If Prime Minister Narendra Modi received a hero’s welcome at Madison Square Garden, New York, last September, he got an encore, “rockstar” reception from the Indo-Canadian community in Toronto.
Right from landing at the Toronto Pearson International Airport, where a Bollywood dance troop welcomed the Indian PM while grooving to Bollywood numbers like Dance Basanti.
Later, at Toronto’s Ricoh Coliseum more than 10,000 people attended the community reception where Modi addressed the Indo-Canadian community. Bollywood playback singer Sukhwinder Singh and Shaimak Davar’s dance troop performed in the welcoming ceremony.
Modi at Ricoh Coliseum
Known for his vivid fashion sense, the Indian PM arrived at the Ricoh Coliseum wearing a yellow kurta, churidar, a brown Nehru jacket and a saffron stole.
Addressing the attendees, Modi talked about different aspects of how Indo-Candidian relations can be bettered and praised Indians, who have made a life for themselves in Canada.
Watch the full video of Modi’s speech at Ricoh Coliseum in Toronto.
At House of Commons in Ottawa
Earlier in the day, Canadian MP Jason Kenney tweeted that PM Modi asked to see the Canadian House of Commons. He was taken their and was also showed a 1949 picture of his predecessor Nehru speaking at the same venue.
Modi, Harper and the ‘Parrot Lady’
After signing the Indo-Canadian uranium deal, wherein, Cameco Corporation will supply 3,000 metric tonnes of uranium to India over a period of five years, Modi visited the Parliamentary Library on Parliament Hill in Ottawa with Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper.
Harper also returned to Modi, a 900-year-old sandstone sculpture – known as the “Parrot Lady” – that is believed to have been stolen from an Indian temple and was found in Canada in 2011. Though authorities aren’t sure when or exactly where it was nabbed and how it ended up in Canada.
Guru Nanak Dev Painting
The Indian PM also tweeted about his gift to Prime Minister Harper. He gifted a miniature painting depicting Sikh Guru Nanak Dev with his two disciples to his Canadian counterpart.
The painting is encased in intricately painted borders and made with handmade paper with mineral colours. The work has been done by a Jaipur-based artist, Virendra Bannu, as reported by DNA.
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