Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's visit to Delhi finally concluded on Tuesday as he departed after a technical malfunction in his plane was resolved.
Trudeau's forgettable visit to Delhi has come to an end two days late as he was stranded in the national capital for around two days as his plane developed a technical malfunction. He was supposed to leave on Sunday after the conclusion of G20 Summit.
Trudeau arrived in Delhi on Friday to attend the G20 Summit. While he attended the G20 Summit, he was absent from the dinner gala and his meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the sidelines of the summit was a tense affair evidence in curt photos and an extremely harsh readout by India.
A source in the know told PTI that the aircraft took off at around 1:10 pm. Union Minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar was at the airport to see him off.
"The technical issue with the plane has been resolved. The plane has been cleared to fly. The Canadian delegation is expected to depart this afternoon," said a Canadian statement earlier on Tuesday.
The delegation accompanying Trudeau was also stranded in Delhi as the plane remained grounded.
Besides being sidelined at G20 events, Trudeau received a cold shoulder from the Modi government.
Modi raised the issue of anti-India activities in Canada, said the Indian readout, referring to the Khalistani activities in Canada. In the past decades, Canada has emerged as a safe haven from Khalistani elements, who seek to carve a separate nation for Sikhs called Khalistan from India. For decades, the Khalistani groups waged a bloody insurgency in Punjab that only ebbed in 1990. While the violent insurgency ebbed in India by 1990s, it continues to have strong pockets of influence abroad, particular in Canada where Khalistani leaders are based and openly carry out anti-India activities, such as issuing threats to Indian missions and diplomats.
"He conveyed our strong concerns about continuing anti-India activities of extremist elements in Canada. They are promoting secessionism and inciting violence against Indian diplomats, damaging diplomatic premises, and threatening the Indian community in Canada and their places of worship. The nexus of such forces with organized crime, drug syndicates and human trafficking should be a concern for Canada as well," said the Indian readout.
For Trudeau, this is the second time in a row that his visit to India turned into a disaster. Earlier, Trudeau visited India in 2018 and was snubbed the Modi government throughout. The visit at the time was called "a slow-moving train wreck" by a commentator as Indian leaders across the spectrum snubbed Trudeau. The presence of Khalistani separatist Jaspal Atwal at an event of Trudeau, where he was photographed with his wife, also led to a scandal.
The Print reported that Modi had refused to meet Trudeau during the visit until he made amends by meeting the then-Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh.
