Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who has been under fire for inviting a convicted Khalistani, Jaspal Atwal, being invited by Canadian High Commission during his trip to India, has defended the Canadian government official who suggested that factions within Indian government sabotaged his trip.
The latest CBC/Trudeau/Liberal spin: Blame India. Yes, seriously.
A Trudeau government source told the CBC that “rogue” Indian government operatives may have “orchestrated” the whole thing just to embarrass Trudeau.https://t.co/Df3ynT4NAc
— Candice Malcolm (@CandiceMalcolm) February 23, 2018
The official reportedly said questions should be asked of the Indian government about how Jaspal Atwal was taken off a blacklist of people banned by India from entering the country — and then suddenly surfaced during Trudeau’s visit there this week.
Trudeau was being grilled by opposition MPs about invitation issued to Jaspal Atwal, a former member of the International Sikh Youth Federation (ISYF), a militant group, convicted of attempting to assassinate cabinet minister of Punjab in 1986. A Canadian government official from Prime Minister’s Office had last week suggested that Atwal’s presence was arranged by factions within the Indian government who want to prevent Prime Minister Narendra Modi from getting too cosy with a foreign government they believe is not committed to a united India and is sympathetic to Sikh extremism.
When Canadian opposition leader asked whether Trudeau agrees with the allegations levelled by his official, Trudeau said, ‘”Our professional, non-partisan public service does high-quality work and when one of our top diplomats and security officials says something to Canadians, it’s because they know it to be true.’
