Toronto, June 25 (IANS) Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will meet all MPs and provincial lawmakers of Indian origin in Canada during his visit here for the G-20 summit at the weekend. This is being organised at the prime minister’s initiative.
Manmohan Singh’s initiative assumes significance in the light of India’s concerns to the Canadian government about the activities of anti-India elements.
‘The meeting is being organised as the prime minister wants to meet and know the Indian-origin representatives in Canada. This is purely the prime minister’s idea. He wants to have a face-to-face meeting these MPs and MLAs,” informed sources told IANS.
There are nine MPs of Indian origin in the Canadian parliament. Apart from these MPs, there are also six Indo-Canadian MLAs in British Columbia province, five in Alberta province, four in Ontario province and one in Manitoba province.
Some of the Indo-Canadian representatives confirmed that they have been invited to meet the Indian prime minister, without specifying the purpose of the meeting.
‘The meeting also assumes significance that the Indian prime minister has invited Indo-Canadian MP Sukh Dhaliwal who recently introduced a motion in the Canadian parliament to urge Canada to declare the 1984 anti-Sikh riots as ‘genocide,”’ the sources said.
Dhaliwal’s office confirmed his participation in the meeting. ‘Yes, Mr Dhaliwal has accepted the invitation and will be attending the meeting with the Indian prime minister,” his office told IANS.
Navdeep Bains, another MP who supported the motion, has also been invited for the meeting.
Ruby Dhalla, the MP for Brampton-Springdale on the outskirts of Toronto, also said, ‘Yes, I have invited and I will be attending the meeting with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.’
Various Sikh groups have also sought a meeting with the Indian prime minister to raise the issue of punishment for the guilty of the 1984 riots, but there has no confirmation whether Manmohan Singh will them.
During his Toronto visit, the prime minister is also likely to visit the Air India memorial to pay respects to the victims of the 1985 tragedy.
(Gurmukh Singh can be contacted at gurmukh.s@ians.in)
