Prime Minister Narendra Modi not only kept the 8,000-strong audience of mostly Indo-Canadians roaring with approval on their feet during his speech of one hour and ten minutes at Toronto’s Ricoh Coliseum, but he pitched his Canadian counterpart Stephen Harper an enticing invitation to be a partner in his vision for India’s development, The Hindu reported on Thursday.

The bond between the men was evident and Harper reminded the gathering of Canada’s historical friendship with the Prime Minister.

He said: “I am so proud to say that [Modi] has long been a friend to Canada and we to him as during as during his many years as Chief Minister of Gujarat we had extended the hand of friendship long before others.”

The point was not missed on Modi, who noted that since the time he launched the ‘Vibrant Gujarat’ summit in 2003, the year following the anti-Muslim riots in that state, Canada had consistently been a partner-state of Gujarat’s, even until today.

On this occasion Modi came bearing a gift for Canadians and they cheered loudest when Harper announced what it was — the inclusion of Canada in the list of nations receiving a visa-on-arrival from India.

Referring to Modi’s first visit to Canada as India’s prime minister, Harper said: “His first visit has been historic.”

Just a day ago, Canada's prime minister announced a breakthrough deal to supply uranium to India for electricity generation, putting behind decades of discord over India's surreptitious use of Canadian technologies to build atomic bombs.

Read: Canada sells uranium to India in breakthrough deal.

Modi's visit to Canada comes after stops in France, where he ordered 36 Rafale fighter jets in a multi-billion-euro agreement, and Germany.

Nearly 1.2 million Canadians trace their roots to India. South Asians are the largest visible minority in Canada.

Earlier it was misreported, citing Indian media, that Canada had announced visa-on-arrival for Indians. The error is regretted.