Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau arrives for G20 Summit

Trudeau said Canada is home to one of the longest Indian diasporas in the world, adding that nearly 1.4 million people of Indian descent live in the country.

New Delhi: Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Friday arrived in India to attend the G20 Summit. The Canadian PM, accompanied by his son Xavier, was received by the Union Minister of State (MoS) for Skill Development and Entrepreneurship, Rajeev Chandrasekhar. The summit, which will witness the participation of world leaders and delegates from international organisations, will be hosted in the national capital under India's presidency of the 20-member bloc.

The two-day huddle is set to get underway at the state-of-the-art Bharat Mandapam at Delhi's Pragati Maidan on September 9 and 10. The Canadian PM recently called India a key partner in the promotion of shared values of democracy. “As the world’s largest democracy, India is – and will continue to be – a key partner for Canada in the promotion of our shared values of democracy, pluralism, and progress. We are committed to building on this rich history of collaboration, including under India’s presidency of the G20 this year," Trudeau said in a statement.

“Looking ahead, as Canada strengthens its presence in the region under its Indo-Pacific Strategy, we will continue to work together to preserve the rules-based international order, promote multilateralism, and grow our economic ties to benefit people in both our countries as well as the region at large," he added.

“The Canada-India relationship is based on strong and longstanding ties between our people. Canada is home to one of the largest Indian diasporas in the world, with nearly 1.4 million people of Indian descent living in our communities from coast to coast to coast. These communities are an integral part of Canada’s national identity, and today we recognize their valuable contributions, past and present, that have made our country stronger, more prosperous, and more inclusive," the Canadian PM said.

Trudeau said Canada is home to one of the longest Indian diasporas in the world, adding that nearly 1.4 million people of Indian descent live in the country. Meanwhile, ahead of the summit on Saturday, Foreign Secretary Vinay Kwatra said, "The coming together of the 41 Heads of delegations, Heads of State/Govt, Heads of international organisations in India, starting yesterday is under PM's personal leadership and direction. It is essentially a celebration of the coming together of the G 20 family...This is the largest-ever participation of the Global South in India."

India assumed the G20 presidency on December 1 last year and about 200 meetings related to G20 were organized in 60 cities across the country. The 18th G20 Summit will be a culmination of all the G20 processes and meetings held throughout the year among ministers, senior officials, and civil societies.

One of the takeaways of India’s G20 presidency is the revolutionisation of Digital Payment Infrastructure, as initially, very few people knew about it, but it has(been) taken forward extensively, G20 Sherpa Amitabh Kant said on Friday. He further said that the digital payment infrastructure has been widely accepted as a way to bring financial inclusion.

Addressing a pre-summit briefing in the national capital, Kant said, “When India started the G20 Presidency, very few people knew about Digital Payment Infrastructure and the open source model of it. This has been extensively taken forward, by both the Finance track and Sherpa track in a very rigorous manner. Digital Payment Infrastructure, has broadly been accepted as…the way to bring financial inclusion. This is the way to do fast payments, this is the way to drive the innovation of the future”. (ANI)