Wearing colourful Indian attire, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his family on Monday visited Sabarmati Ashram in Ahmedabad city where Mahatma Gandhi, the leader of India's freedom movement, lived for over a decade.
Trudeau, along with his wife Sophie Gregoire and three children, Xavier, Ella-Grace and Hadrien, are on a week-long visit aimed at strengthening economic and political relations between the two countries.
The Canadian first family tried their hand at spinning cotton on a traditional wheel at the Sabarmati Ashram. Gandhi was a great believer in cottage industries like spinning and weaving khadi cotton cloth.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi did not accompany Trudeau to his home state Gujarat and was holding election meetings in the southern state of Karnataka, officials said.
Modi had accompanied Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Chinese President Xi Jinping during their visits to his home state.
The Canadian premier and his family also visited the sprawling Hindu Akshardham temple in Ahmedabad.
Trudeau is scheduled to later interact with business students at the Indian Instititute of Management in the city.
His other stops in India include Mumbai, where he will be travelling later on Monday and Amritsar in Punjab state where he is scheduled to pay homage at the Golden Temple, the holiest shrine for the Sikh faith. Canada has a large population of Sikhs.
Trudea is scheduled to hold talks with Modi in New Delhi on Friday.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his wife Sophie Gregoire sit with their daughter Ella-Grace and their sons Xavier and Hadrien as they try out a ceremonial spinning wheel during their visit to Gandhi Ashram in Ahmedabad on Monday.
