Trudeau wasn’t allowed to land in Amritsar till he agreed to meet Capt Amarinder: Report

Quoting unnamed sources, The Globe and Mail said Trudeau finally agreed to meet Capt Amarinder to discuss concerns about Sikh separatists in Canada, including Hardeep Singh Nijjar. During the meeting, Captain Amarinder Singh, provided Trudeau and Harjit Sajjan with a document listing about 10 Sikh radicals who they wanted Canada to deport or rein in.

The paper said this document was part of a longstanding effort by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government to urge Canada to take legal action against Sikh separatists.

Tensions between the two countries escalated after Nijjar was killed last June, with Trudeau suggesting Indian involvement in his death months later.

Trudeau and Sajjan, en route to Punjab during the 2018 trip, were informed they could only land if they attended the meeting. The Globe and Mail report said the meeting was tense, with Capt. Singh presenting the dossier, listing individuals like Nijjar known for advocating Khalistan. Canadian officials assured they would review the list but reiterated that Canadian law doesn’t permit arrests solely based on views disliked by New Delhi, which displeased Indian officials, especially in external affairs.

The dossier was provided during a period when CSIS had been collaborating with India’s intelligence agency, Research and Analysis Wing (RAW), to investigate the activities of Sikh separatists living in Canada, including potential fundraising efforts and any connections to terrorism, according to The Globe and Mail.

Canadian officials had reportedly reassured Indian counterparts prior to the trip that Trudeau would strongly condemn terrorism and extremism, which he did, albeit towards the end of the visit.

The trip was a diplomatic fiasco right from the beginning when it came to light that Jaspal Atwal, who had been convicted in the 1980s for attempting to assassinate an Indian cabinet minister during a visit to Canada, had been invited to two receptions with the Prime Minister. Atwal was even photographed with Sophie Grégoire Trudeau.