Justin Trudeau's plane wasn't allowed to land in Amritsar till he agreed to meet Amarinder Singh: Report

The Indian government refused to allow Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's plane to land in Punjab's Amritsar during his 2018 India visit until he and the then Canadian defence minister Harjit Singh Sajjan agreed to meet the former Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh. During this meeting, the former Punjab CM handed Trudeau and Sajjan a dossier which had the names of around 10 Sikh activists who the Indian government wanted to be curtailed. 

Trudeau and Sajjan wanted to avoid meeting Captain Amarinder Singh since he had previously described the former Canadian defence minister's father as a terrorist. Singh had called Harjit Singh Sajjan's father a terrorist since he led the World Sikh Organisation, Canadian news outlet The Globe and Mail reported citing sources aware of the matter. 

Nonetheless, the meeting took place and Captain presented the dossier. This dossier consisted names of 10 Sikh activists, including the slain Hardeep SIngh Nijjar. These activists promoted the demand for the creation of a Sikh homeland carved out of Punjab, which Sikhs would refer to as Khalistan. 

Tensions between India and Canada hit a peak with Trudeau saying that India was involved in the death of Hardeep Singh Nijjar. Nijjar was killed by unidentified assailants in June 2023 outside a gurudwara in Canada. Hardeep Singh Nijjar was a key member of the banned organisation Sikhs for Justice, one of the many groups that advocate the creation of Khalistan. 

As per the source, the discussion with Amarinder Singh was "not pleasant" and the Canadian government officials assured the Indians that they would look at the dossier. The same dossier was previously shared with the Canadian Security Intelligence Service. 

The dossier was shared when the CSIS was working with India's Research and Analysis Wing (R&AW) to probe the activities of Sikh separatists living in Canada, including possible fundraising and any links to terrorism. 

The Canadians also told the Indian officials that while they understand New Delhi's concerns about terrorists, Ottawa cannot arrest people simply because they express views that India does not like. This take by the Canadian side did not augur well with the Indian side, especially the external affairs ministry, the source added. 

Besides the difficult meeting with Captain Amarinder Singh, Justin Trudeau and his entourage also landed in a soup as Jaspal Atwal, a convicted failed assassin, was invited to a couple of functions. Atwal was also photographed with Trudeau's ex-wife Sophie Gregorie Trudeau. In the 1980s, Jaspal Singh Atwal was convicted of attempting to assassinate an Indian cabinet minister who was travelling in Canada.