Chandigarh, Oct 27 (IANS): Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal has cancelled his trip to Italy to welcome Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper during the latter's visit to Punjab next month, an official said here Saturday.

Harper is scheduled to visit Punjab Nov 7. He is expected to offer prayers at 'Harmandar Sahib' (popularly known as Golden Temple), the holiest of Sikh shrines, in Amritsar and the 'Virasat-e-Khalsa' (Sikh heritage) complex at Anandpur Sahib, 80 km from here.

Badal was scheduled to lead a delegation of farm equipment manufacturers and progressive farmers from Punjab to the international agricultural machinery exhibition in Bologna, Italy from Nov 7 to 11.

"Assuming the significance of the visit of Harper, the chief minister took this decision to cancel his visit to Bologna," a spokesman at the chief minister's office said here Saturday.

Canada has a substantial population of immigrants from Punjab, especially Sikhs, who are settled there. Some of them, like former British Columbia premier Ujjal Dosanjh and former Canadian MP Ruby Dhalla, have done well in political and social fields.