Canadian Minister for Natural Resources Herb Dhaliwal will accompany Prime Minister Jean Chretien during his two-day official visit to India (October 24-25).

Before his departure he briefed the media through a conference call from Ottawa and interestingly, even though he said that a Canadian PM would visit the Golden Temple in Amritsar for the first time, he laid more emphasis on the appointment of Bhupinder S Liddar as Canada's "first Sikh" consul-general to Chandigarh.

Foreign Affairs Minister Bill Graham had made an announcement about Liddar's appointment on October 21.

After visiting Harminder Sahib, Chretien and Dhaliwal will go to Chandigarh to formally open the consulate-general and hold a reception for local dignitaries.

"It is a matter of pride that a Punjabi and a Sikh has been appointed to this position…" Dhaliwal said.

Not even once was Liddar, who will be in Chandigarh when the consulate-general is inaugurated, identified as an Indo-Canadian.

Before the official announcement about this appointment, Liddar called rediff.com to share the news. "I am proud," he said.

Since 1989 he is the editor/publisher of Diplomat and International Canada. He's also the host of 'The Diplomatic World', a weekly panel discussion on international issues broadcast on CPAC, and 'The Diplomatic World'.

He has master's degree in social sciences from the University of Illinois.