Canadian Minister for Natural Resources Herb Dhaliwal on Tuesday termed as "historic" Prime Minister Jean Chretien's upcoming two-day visit to India (October 24-25).

Chretien is currently in Bangkok attending the APEC Summit. From there he will go to Shanghai and then to New Delhi.

The PM, who will be accompanied by Dhaliwal, will inaugurate a Canadian consulate-general in Chandigarh.

"No other country has such a consulate-general there," Dhaliwal said.

Chretien will also celebrate in India the tenth anniversary of his becoming PM.

"... this government was elected on October 25, 1993," Dhaliwal said.

He said it is an "honour and a pleasure for me to be travelling with the prime minister. I will be catching up to him in Delhi on October 24 where he will be laying the wreath at Mahatma Gandhi tomb and later he will have a working dinner with Indian Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee".

Next day they will go to the Golden Temple and then on to Chandigarh to open the consulate-general.

Dhaliwal called it "a great way for me to be with the prime minister serving 10 years in politics and also working very hard for the... fruition of opening the consulate-general, which will provide all services -- visas, passports, and other immigration matters -- when it is fully operational".

The consulate-general will also "help to strengthen our trade relationship and this is also part of the reengagement with India", Dhaliwal said.

He referred to his visit to India in December last year when he headed a group of 40 Canadian businessmen. Before him International Trade Minister Pierre Pettigrew headed a delegation of 100 businesspeople.