Trudeau won’t meet with Sikh critic
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau will not meet with the Indian politician who has publicly accused members of Trudeau’s cabinet of being connected to the Sikh separatist movement.
Despite Indian media reports that Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh is to be Trudeau’s tour guide at the Golden Temple in Amritsar during a state visit to India that begins Sunday, officials in the Prime Minister’s Office say no meeting is planned.
“We have nothing planned with him at this time,” said one Canadian official, speaking anonymously because they weren’t authorized to discuss details of the trip.
The Hindustan Times, the largest English newspaper in India, reported Singh was to accompany Trudeau to the temple and nearby museum.
Last year, Singh refused to meet with Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan, accusing him of supporting the pro-Khalistani movement, which advocates for an independent Sikh state. Earlier this month, Singh told Outlook India magazine that “there seems to be evidence that there are Khalistani sympathizers in Trudeau’s cabinet.”
Sajjan and Infrastructure Minister Amarjeet Sohi, two of the four Sikh members of Trudeau’s cabinet, pushed back hard against Singh’s claim, denying that they were either part of the movement or that it was much of an issue at all in Canada’s Indian communities.
Singh responded by saying he looked forward to having productive meetings with Trudeau on his trip. Canadian officials are giving no explanation for the decision not to meet him.
The issue is a cloud hanging over Trudeau’s first state visit to India. While Indian government sources insist he will be received warmly, they also note the government has only set aside part of a single day for official bilateral meetings.
Trudeau, who leaves Friday, is scheduled to meet Feb. 23 with President Ram Nath Kovind and Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the presidential palace in Delhi.
Modi has raised the issue with Trudeau when the two have met on the sidelines of various meetings, including just last month at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. That meeting came just weeks after several gurdwaras in Canada officially barred Indian officials from entering the premises.
That ban set off a chain reaction with gurdwaras in the U.S., the U.K. and Australia following suit, accusing the Indian government of interference.