New Delhi: Justin Trudeau, the Canadian Prime Minister is on first Indian trip and has travelled to the iconic Taj Mahal with his family and also went to New Delhi, Gujarat and Mumbai.
But, none of the senior Ministers of Modi cabinet greeted the Canadian PM.
According to the news reported in Al-Jazeera, PM Modi had broken protocols in the past to receive guests like Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu in January. But PM Modi did not even tweet welcoming Justin Trudeau’s visit to India
This move has been seen as a “snub” to the Canadian leader.
However, the ruling party BJP denied of any such disrespect and the member of the National Executive of the BJP, Seshadri Chari, told that “I don’t think this is any kind of snub. India values its relationship with Canada highly.”
Vishnu Prakash, former Indian envoy to Canada, told “Over the years, the Canadian political establishment, across the spectrum (whether it is the NDP, Conservatives or Liberals) has been mollycoddling Khalistani elements. Under the Trudeau government, this has increased. He had himself appeared on a Khalistani platform in Toronto in April last year.”
However, Balpreet Singh Boparai from the World Sikh Organisation – a non-profit outfit, said that “snub reveals India’s insecurity with minority rights”.
He also told to Al-Jazeera that “The cold reception given to Prime Minister Trudeau has been noted in Canada,” and also added that “Prime Minister Trudeau has been unapologetic about the Sikhs in his cabinet, once also joking that he has more Sikhs in his cabinet than Modi. It is clear that there is an insecurity about this among some in the Indian government and media who see Sikhs in positions of leadership as being inherently a threat to India. This is despite the fact that three of the four Sikh cabinet ministers have been raised in Canada and have never expressed any anti-India sentiments.”