India followed due protocol and offered its best services to Justin Trudeau but the Canadian prime minister refused to accept any help, top government sources told CNN-News18 as the Khalistan row between the two countries escalated further on Thursday.
The sources said Trudeau was not in the perfect frame when he arrived in India due to pressure back home over various issues. However, diplomatically, he was treated as state guest and all protocols were cleared at the top level from the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO).
Talking about media reports that the Canadian prime minister was snubbed, the sources said the reports were absolutely baseless.
The sources said after the Indian government came to know about the snag in Trudeau’s plane which delayed his trip back home, India offered him the aircraft meant for the country’s prime minister. However, Trudeau refused to accept any help and decided to wait for a new plane which was also diverted later.
The sources added that once the Canadian prime minister reached home, he faced protests and was projected as a failed leader. Even his party’s pro-Khalistani leaders, who are affluent and control Sikhs, told him that he failed as the leader of the country to project Khalistani issues before the world community. To add fuel to fire, Khalistani groups started the narrative that he was insulted in India.
The sources added that as the prime minister, Trudeau should have come clean on India’s offer of the aircraft as well as the welcome accorded to him. “Trudeau was the State guest and all protocol was followed. We offered him a plane but they opted for their own. Media reports about a snub are absolutely baseless,” the sources said.
The diplomatic row between India and Canada escalated further on Tuesday when both the countries expelled a senior diplomat each after Trudeau alleged the involvement of “agents of the Indian government” in the killing of a prominent Sikh separatist leader in Surrey in June, claims outrightly rejected by New Delhi as “absurd” and “motivated”.
Meanwhile, news reports on Thursday said security personnel refused to let their “protectee” stay in the presidential suit picked for him during the G20 Summit. The suite had been specially furbished by the Indian security establishment as per security protocols laid down for heads of state for the event that concluded recently. The report stated that the Canadian PM’s team instead opted for normal rooms, sending Indian security officials into a tizzy.
Comments
0 comment