India Slams Trudeau’s ‘Baseless’ Comment in Growing Debacle
- Spokesman denies Indian role in inviting criminal to reception
- Canadian PM under fire for week-long trip to Asian nation
Justin Trudeau, left, and Narendra Modi arrive for a meeting at Hyderabad house in New Delhi on Feb. 23, 2018.
Photographer: Money Sharma/AFP via Getty Images
India’s government is taking aim at Justin Trudeau on the heels of a trip to the country that has become a diplomatic debacle, with a spokesman for Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government calling the Canadian leader’s remarks “baseless and unacceptable.”
Trudeau’s trip last week was marred by questions of whether his government was too sympathetic toward Sikh separatists who want an independent Punjab carved out of northwestern India. No issue was more embarrassing for the Canadian prime minister than his delegation meeting with Jaspal Atwal -- a man once convicted in Canada of the attempted murder of a visiting Indian cabinet minister, according to the Canadian Press and other news agencies. After it was made public, Canada rescinded Atwal’s invitation to a dinner reception in New Delhi.