Prime Minister Trudeau of Canada spent a week sight seeing. The trip started badly, when a mere junior minister met him at the airport and ended in a disaster with gaffes, diplomatic tension, and embarrassment. He was accompanied by among others the Sikhs in his cabinet ( he once boasted that he had more of them than were in the Indian cabinet, failing to understand that India was a very diverse country of 1.3 billion ), which raised concern in India as they were seen as supporters of Sikh separatism also as a convicted attempted murderer (Sikh) was given a private meeting with his wife and that he had been invited to a reception hosted by him ( he was " de-invited" after it became known in the media). Trudeau was more intent on playing " dress-up" as he met with Bollywood's Shah Rukh Khan, visited the Taj Mahal, the Golden Temple of the Sikhs and later the ashram of the Mahatma. No visit to Bangalaru the IT and industrial center where most foreign countries and corporations do business. He finally met India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi and announced a business deal of $1 billion, but failed to mention that most of the jobs created,would be in India.
French president Emmanuel Macron came to attend the conference of the International Solar Energy ( ISA). He was met at the airport by P M Modi and was "royally" greeted by the Modi bear hug/ embrace. They then proceeded to open the largest solar plant in the state of Mirzapur, covering over 375 acres and capable of producing 75 MW of power, They were greeted by the state governor, were presented with " prasad" ( religious gifts) of red " chunaris" ( cotton stoles), which they both wore, wrapped around their necks, throughout the ceremony, throwing the switch and unveiling a plaque inscribed in Hindi, French and English.
They moved on to New Delhi, where the Conference was being held. It was attended by the heads of 23 nations and 10 ministerial representatives. There Macron lauded India's efforts to develop and spread solar energy and he pledged $680 million for solar projects in developing countries and tweeted later " we make Delhi this weekend, the world capital of the Sun". He also pledged to help India build the largest nuclear plant, capable of 9.6 gigawatts.
He made Modi very happy as the I S A is his brain child. He first proposed it in 2015, at the India /Africa summit in October in Delhi and then again at the UN Climate Change Conference in Paris in November. So far 121 countries of Asia, Africa and Latin America are associated with it and 61 have so far joined the Alliance ( 3/4 of the world's population, many lacking in energy). India has so far completed 13 solar projects and has pledged $ 1.4 billion for 27 projects in 15 other developing countries.
Pres. Macron came to India to work and promote France ( he did not go to Pondicherry, the last French enclave in India). It was business and he forged a closer relation between France and India. PM Trudeau came to win votes back home ( thus his visit to Punjab and Gujurat, the source of most Indo-Canadians, and not Bangalaru.) and have a good time. He did and gained little but embarrassment.
French president Emmanuel Macron came to attend the conference of the International Solar Energy ( ISA). He was met at the airport by P M Modi and was "royally" greeted by the Modi bear hug/ embrace. They then proceeded to open the largest solar plant in the state of Mirzapur, covering over 375 acres and capable of producing 75 MW of power, They were greeted by the state governor, were presented with " prasad" ( religious gifts) of red " chunaris" ( cotton stoles), which they both wore, wrapped around their necks, throughout the ceremony, throwing the switch and unveiling a plaque inscribed in Hindi, French and English.
They moved on to New Delhi, where the Conference was being held. It was attended by the heads of 23 nations and 10 ministerial representatives. There Macron lauded India's efforts to develop and spread solar energy and he pledged $680 million for solar projects in developing countries and tweeted later " we make Delhi this weekend, the world capital of the Sun". He also pledged to help India build the largest nuclear plant, capable of 9.6 gigawatts.
He made Modi very happy as the I S A is his brain child. He first proposed it in 2015, at the India /Africa summit in October in Delhi and then again at the UN Climate Change Conference in Paris in November. So far 121 countries of Asia, Africa and Latin America are associated with it and 61 have so far joined the Alliance ( 3/4 of the world's population, many lacking in energy). India has so far completed 13 solar projects and has pledged $ 1.4 billion for 27 projects in 15 other developing countries.
Pres. Macron came to India to work and promote France ( he did not go to Pondicherry, the last French enclave in India). It was business and he forged a closer relation between France and India. PM Trudeau came to win votes back home ( thus his visit to Punjab and Gujurat, the source of most Indo-Canadians, and not Bangalaru.) and have a good time. He did and gained little but embarrassment.
