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Narendra Modi to learn from Pa Rhine to cleanse Ma Ganga during tri-nation tour

Prime Minister Narendra Modi's week-long tri-nation tour from Thursday will continue mixing symbolism with diplomacy. While in France, he will interact with people during a boat ride (Nav Pa Charcha); in nearby Germany, he will learn about the revival of 'Pa' Rhine, the main German river, to get cues on cleansing 'Ma Ganga'. In the final leg of his tour in Canada, the test will be in convincing the hosts recognise Indian professional degrees. Most of Indian medical professional expatriates are forced to drive taxis and do odd jobs in Toronto, Vancouver and Ottawa, for want of recognition of their degrees.

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Prime Minister Narendra Modi's week-long tri-nation tour from Thursday will continue mixing symbolism with diplomacy. While in France, he will interact with people during a boat ride (Nav Pa Charcha); in nearby Germany, he will learn about the revival of 'Pa' Rhine, the main German river, to get cues on cleansing 'Ma Ganga'. In the final leg of his tour in Canada, the test will be in convincing the hosts recognise Indian professional degrees. Most of Indian medical professional expatriates are forced to drive taxis and do odd jobs in Toronto, Vancouver and Ottawa, for want of recognition of their degrees.

The European sojourn will also test Modi's diplomatic acumen.
Buoyed by India delaying inking of multi-billion dollar aircraft deal with France, rival Germany is eying an opportunity to push its Eurofighter Typhoon. India has been in negotiations for last three years with France's Dassault Aviation for procurement of 126 Rafale jets, which is being considered world's biggest military aircraft deal. German Ambassador Michael Steiner said his country, which is part of consortium, was ready with its proposal to offer Eurofighter to India.

"The consortium stands ready with their proposal. The governments of the four nations are supporting this proposal because they are convinced it is a good one both in terms of quality of the product and price," he told mediapersons. Indian government officials say that while the deal with Rafale was initially for about Rs 42,000 crore, French are seeking a higher price now. The Rafale and Eurofighter Typhoon were the only two defence majors left in the race for 126 plane-deal after years of tests on technical and other aspects.

While space, defence and cooperation in nuclear sector will be at the heart of discussions in France, in Germany the focus will shift on manufacturing and to sell his 'Make in India' proposal to European industrialists. Prime Minister Modi and German Chancellor Angela Merkel will jointly inaugurate the Hannover Messe fair on April 12. India is the partner country for the famous fair this year.

In Canada though his visit will have a heavy dose of Punjabi politics. On Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper's request, Modi revised his original itinerary that only had the capital Ottawa and Toronto, and added Vancouver to it, which is home to large number of Indian immigrants, mostly from Punjab. The city has been also hot bed of separatist Khalistan movement. The Akali government in Punjab has been demanding to remove various leaders of this erstwhile movement form the exit control list, so they can return India.

Modi will address a community event, jointly hosted by the Hindu Sikh Forum of Canada and the Vedik Hindu Cultural Society which manages the Laxmi Narayan Mandir in Surrey. Modi will also visit a gurdwara and temple in Vancouver. Around 5,000-plus people are expected to attend, to recreate Modi's New York Madisen square event.

Besides convincing France and Canada to increase nuclear cooperation and seek German investments, Modi's take-away from these visits will be to seek technologies for Ganga rejuvenation. German envoy Steiner here said that until 1980s, their main river, 'Father Rhine', was biologically almost dead. "In a major clean-up mission and concerted efforts by all stakeholders, the Rhine has been brought back to life again. Today, people can swim and fish once again in the Rhine. We would be honored to share our experience with India in its efforts to bring the Ganges back to its pristine glory," he said.

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