Prime Minister Narendra Modi likely to visit temple and gurudwara on his trip to Canada

NEW DELHI: PM Narendra Modi is likely to visit the historic Khalsa Diwan gurdwara in Vancouver during his trip to Canada next week which houses over a million Indians, including a large section of the Sikh community, in a move which is seen as an attempt by Modi to reach out to his vote bank back home and cement BJP’s alliance with a key partner in Punjab. Visits to places of pilgrimage have been an important part of Modi’s foreign trips Pashupatinath temple in Kathmandu, a temple in Kyoto, and recently a Buddhist monastery in Anuradhapura and a temple in Jaffna. Sources hinted that Modi could also visit the Laxmi Narayan temple in Surrey near Vancouver.



The Indian community in Vancouver would also hold a reception for the PM, sources added. Such outreach programme has been part of the PM’s itinerary in countries having a large Indian population. The visit to the gurdwara would not only help him to reach out to the Sikhs, many of whom occupy prominent positions across Canada, but also help strengthen BJP’s alliance with Akali Dal in Punjab, which will head for Assembly polls in 2017.