PM welcomes Trudeau amid shame over party invitation
NEW DELHI— Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi greeted Justin Trudeau on Friday with a hug, one day after embarrassed Canadian diplomats had to revoke a party invitation for a man convicted of attempting to kill an Indian politician.
The invitation was the latest blunder in Trudeau’s eight-day visit, which has included everything from criticism of his colourful wardrobe to questions about whether his government is sufficiently critical of Sikh extremists.
Jaspal Atwal, a Canada-based former member of a banned Sikh separatist group, had been invited by a British Columbia MP to a Thursday evening party for Trudeau at Canada’s High Commission in New Delhi.
Atwal was convicted of trying to kill an Indian cabinet minister during a 1986 visit to Canada. The minister was shot but survived. Atwal was imprisoned and started working in business after his release.
Canada withdrew the invitation once it was discovered, with Trudeau telling reporters: “Obviously we take this situation extremely seriously. The individual in question never should have received an invitation.”
Modi still welcomed Trudeau on Friday with his signature bear hug, smiling at his wife and their three children, who also attended the formal outdoor ceremony.
In a Thursday night tweet, Modi said he looked forward to meeting Trudeau and his family, adding “I appreciate his deep commitment to ties between our two countries.”
Trudeau has been ridiculed in India on social media for his family’s seemingly endless wardrobe changes and has faced repeated insistence that he denounce Sikh extremism.
Canada has a small but politically potent Sikh population, some of whom support a breakaway Sikh state, known as Khalistan, inside India. The Indian media often describe Trudeau’s government as being soft on the Khalistan issue.
Trudeau insisted that he’d told Indian politicians that was not true. “I was pleased to be able to make very, very clear that Canada supports one united India,” he said.