Trudeau, family begin India tour with Taj Mahal visit, to meet PM on Feb 23

Agra: Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his family visited the iconic Taj Mahal in Agra on Sunday after he arrived in India on a week-long tour on Saturday.

Trudeau will hold talks with his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi on wide-ranging issues, including defence and counter-terror cooperation.

Trudeau, accompanied by his wife Sophie Gregoire and three children - Xavier, Ella-Grace and Hadrien, will also visit Ahmedabad, Mumbai and Amritsar during the visit. Officials said Trudeau's visit to Gujarat will be the first by a Canadian prime minister.

"Wheels up for India and a busy visit, focused on creating good jobs and strengthening the deep connection between the people of our two countries," Trudeau had tweeted on Saturday before embarking on the trip.

During his visit, Trudeau will interact with business leaders, representatives of the film industry and students.

He will be in Sabarmati Ashram in Ahmedabad on February 19. He will go to Akshardham temple in Gandhinagar and participate in an event at IIM-Ahmedabad.

On February 20, he will hold meetings with top business leaders and meet representatives of the Indian film industry in Mumbai

On February 21, the Canadian prime minister will visit Golden Temple in Amritsar and return to Delhi the same day

Trudeau is scheduled to visit Jama Masjid and a cricket ground here on February 22 besides delivering a lecture at a gathering of Canadian and Indian business leaders

He will hold wide-ranging talks with Prime Minister Modi on February 23 and address a conference of young change-makers on February 24

The ties between India and Canada have been on an upswing. Approximately 1.4 million Canadians are of Indian heritage and India is Canada's second largest source of immigrants.