28th February 2018 • article
India and Canada throw more accusations at each other after Justin Trudeau returns home
Image: Justin Trudeau / Twitter
Since Justin Trudeau returned to Canada after a seven-day tour of India, relations between the two country have gotten worse.
The controversy revolves around Jaspal Atwal, a Canadian man who was invited to official events during Trudeau's tour. Atwal was convicted of an attempted assassination of Indian cabinet minister Malkiat Singh Sidhu in 1986.
The invitation was rescinded as soon as Atwal's background was highlighted but the damage was done. Indian officials cited them as evidence Trudeau's government was too close to Sikh extremists.
But why was Atwal given clearance to enter India? And why are there (unverified, we should add) pictures on social media showing Atwal touring India earlier? These questions were raised by the Indian government's own allies, the Shiromani Akali Dal party, on Monday.
"Sikhs could never imagine that the PM of a country which provided them opportunities of employment and growth would be treated so badly by the Indian government," one of its leaders said.
Accusations by the SAD were then echoed in Canada when a senior government official suggested Indian officials were behind Atwal's sudden appearance in India.
Yesterday in the Canadian House of Commons the accusations were put to Trudeau. "A senior security official made these allegations. Does the Prime Minister agree or disavow those allegations?" Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer asked.
The Canadian PM didn't back down. "When one of our top diplomats and security officials says something to Canadians, it is because they know it to be true," he responded.
A spokesman later added: "The Prime Minister's comments were clear today – we respect and trust our professional, non-partisan national public service."
This has prompted outrage from Indian officials today.
"Let me categorically state that the Government of India, including the security agencies, had nothing to do with the presence of Jaspal Atwal at the event hosted by the Canadian High Commissioner in Mumbai or the invitation issued to him for the Canadian High Commissioner's reception in New Delhi. Any suggestion to the contrary is baseless and unacceptable," a spokesperson said.
Meanwhile, Liberal MP Randeep Sarai, who had invited Atwal to India, yesterday apologised and resigned from his position as chair of the Liberal Party's Pacific Caucus in British Columbia, a lobby group for minority MPs.
He was among 14 MPs alongside Trudeau on his tour of India.
The controversy revolves around Jaspal Atwal, a Canadian man who was invited to official events during Trudeau's tour. Atwal was convicted of an attempted assassination of Indian cabinet minister Malkiat Singh Sidhu in 1986.
The invitation was rescinded as soon as Atwal's background was highlighted but the damage was done. Indian officials cited them as evidence Trudeau's government was too close to Sikh extremists.
But why was Atwal given clearance to enter India? And why are there (unverified, we should add) pictures on social media showing Atwal touring India earlier? These questions were raised by the Indian government's own allies, the Shiromani Akali Dal party, on Monday.
"Sikhs could never imagine that the PM of a country which provided them opportunities of employment and growth would be treated so badly by the Indian government," one of its leaders said.
Accusations by the SAD were then echoed in Canada when a senior government official suggested Indian officials were behind Atwal's sudden appearance in India.
Yesterday in the Canadian House of Commons the accusations were put to Trudeau. "A senior security official made these allegations. Does the Prime Minister agree or disavow those allegations?" Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer asked.
The Canadian PM didn't back down. "When one of our top diplomats and security officials says something to Canadians, it is because they know it to be true," he responded.
A spokesman later added: "The Prime Minister's comments were clear today – we respect and trust our professional, non-partisan national public service."
This has prompted outrage from Indian officials today.
"Let me categorically state that the Government of India, including the security agencies, had nothing to do with the presence of Jaspal Atwal at the event hosted by the Canadian High Commissioner in Mumbai or the invitation issued to him for the Canadian High Commissioner's reception in New Delhi. Any suggestion to the contrary is baseless and unacceptable," a spokesperson said.
Meanwhile, Liberal MP Randeep Sarai, who had invited Atwal to India, yesterday apologised and resigned from his position as chair of the Liberal Party's Pacific Caucus in British Columbia, a lobby group for minority MPs.
I want to again apologize for my role in recent unfortunate events. Moving forward, I will be exercising better judgment. As I don't want to distract from the good work of the Pacific Caucus, I will be stepping down as caucus chair.
— Randeep S. Sarai (@randeepssarai) February 28, 2018
He was among 14 MPs alongside Trudeau on his tour of India.
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