Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who stayed in his room in New Delhi’s Lalit Hotel after his Airbus plane developed a snag, finally flew home around 1pm on Tuesday.
A report in Hindustan Times earlier quoted Mohammed Hussain, press secretary at the Canadian Prime Minister’s office, as saying, “The Canadian Armed Forces continue their best efforts to get the Canadian delegation home. Their latest update shows an earliest possible departure of Tuesday late afternoon. The situation remains fluid.”
An airport official on Monday said that Trudeau’s plane was scheduled to land in India on Tuesday. However, a report in CBC News stated that the PM’s replacement aircraft was diverted to London, further delaying his return home. No reason was given for the unscheduled diversion.
The report further quoted a person familiar with the details: “Both he and his son stayed in.” HT mentioned that the Canadian PM’s 16-year-old son, Xavier, was travelling with him, and accompanied him to Jakarta and also Singapore before flying into New Delhi.
The Canadians and the Japanese booked most rooms at the Lalit, but now only about 30 of the rooms continue to be occupied by the PM’s core team and accompanying media, the report stated.
With Snag & Snub, Hard Time for Trudeau in India
Trudeau’s extended stay in India post G20 summit comes at a time when New Delhi has not been entirely warm towards the Canadian PM.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday conveyed to Trudeau New Delhi’s strong concerns about continuing anti-India activities of extremist elements in Canada as they are promoting secessionism and inciting violence against Indian diplomats and threatening the Indian community there.
In his talks with Trudeau on the sidelines of the G20 Summit, Modi also mentioned that a relationship based on “mutual respect and trust” is essential for the progress of India-Canada relationship, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said.
In July, India summoned the Canadian envoy and issued a demarche over the increasing activities by pro-Khalistani elements in Canada, days after posters featuring names of India’s senior diplomats serving in Canada featured in some posters in certain areas in that country.
In June, a video emerged on social media that showed a float depicting the assassination of Indira Gandhi. It was reportedly part of a parade that was organised by some Khalistani elements in Brampton.
Asked about India’s concerns over the increasing activities of the Khalistani elements in Canada, Trudeau said at a press conference that his country will always defend freedom of peaceful protest but at the same time asserted that it will always prevent violence and push back against hatred.
Controversy in Canada Over Trudeau India Visit
Sidelined in India, Trudeau’s problems may not end even after reaching home. His airplane glitch, the reason for which is not known yet, has caused a bit of a controversy in Canada.
The HT report stated that commentator Tom Mulcair went on air on CTV to call it a “debacle”. He said that it was shoddy of the government to not order new planes causing “an embarrassing issue”. Officials in Delhi were quoted as saying that the aircraft is being looked at by GMR Aerotech.
This is not the first time that Trudeau’s aircraft has encountered a problem during his India visit. In 2018, when he was in the country for a state visit, the A-310 he was travelling had faced technical issues when he was to depart for Delhi.
The plane involved in the current debacle is a CC-150 Polaris, one of several modified Airbus A310-300 the Canadian armed forces uses for the transport of its VIPs, the HT report stated. Even at that time, activities by pro-Khalistani elements in Canada were raised.
(With inputs from PTI)
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