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Chandigarh, February 19
Punjab Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh and visiting Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau will hold a one-on-one meeting in Amritsar on February 21. The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) has allocated a 30-minute slot for the meeting which will be held at a private hotel after Trudeau’s visit to the Golden Temple. The latter will be received by Local Bodies Minister Navjot Singh Sidhu at the Partition Museum. “The CM will not accompany Trudeau to the Golden Temple,” clarified an official spokesperson.
Capt Amarinder said Punjab had deep roots in Canada, “where a large Punjabi community
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is settled and has always striven to strengthen the connect.” He also referred to Trudeau’s apology, two years ago, in the Canadian parliament over the Komagata Maru incident. Hundreds of Sikh, Muslim and Hindu passengers who arrived in Canada on a Japanese steamer in 1914 were denied entry into Canada and forced to return to India.
Instructions have been issued to roll out the red carpet for the visiting dignitary and to ensure best facilities to the Canadian PM, his family and the entourage.
There had been reports of behind-the-scene efforts by the Canadian Government for a meeting with the Punjab CM, who had earlier accused some ministers in the Trudeau government of supporting Sikh separatists.
It is learnt that Canadian Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan, whom Capt Amarinder had refused to meet during his India visit in April last year, played a key role in paving the way for the meeting.
Ahead of Trudeau’s visit, Capt Amarinder, in a statement earlier this month, had hailed Sajjan and his fellow minister Amarjit Sohi’s denial that they were sympathetic to the Khalistan cause. — TNS
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