Amritsar: Putting to rest all speculation, Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh met Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau at a private hotel in Amritsar on Wednesday. In the 40-minute meeting, Amarinder raised the Khalistan issue with Trudeau with the latter assuring him that Canada did not support any separatist movement in India or elsewhere.
A press statement issued by the Punjab government stated that Amarinder sought the Canadian Prime Minister’s cooperation in cracking down on separatism. The press statement added that “citing the separatist movement in Quebec, Trudeau said he had dealt with such threats all his life and was fully aware of the dangers of violence, which he had always pushed back with all his might.”
The Punjab CM also handed over to Trudeau a list of nine Category `A’ Canada-based operatives alleged to be involved in hate crimes in Punjab by financing and supplying weapons for terrorist activities and also engaged in trying to radicalise youth and children here.
At the meeting, at which Canadian Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan and Punjab Local Government Minister Navjot Singh Sidhu were also present, the Chief Minister raised the issue of Indo-Canadians believed to be involved in targeted killings in Punjab, urging him to take cognizance of the same and initiate stern action against such elements.
Amarinder, according to the press note, pointed out that people fighting elections on the plank of a separate Sikh state ended up losing their security deposits. “The Canadian Prime Minister assured Captain Amarinder of addressing all concerns raised by the latter, saying he looked forward to closer ties with India, particularly with Punjab, which he was happy to see progressing well.”
During the meeting, Captain Amarinder called for cooperation between India and Canada on the issues of terrorism, crime, and drugs, while seeking greater sharing of relevant information, in the interest of national and international security.
On the day, Trudeau also paid obeisance at the Golden Temple along with his family and his delegation of ministers. So far, his weeklong visit to India is being talked about for the lukewarm welcome it has received from the government. The Canadian PM, however, said he was well-received at the Golden Temple. “What an honour to be so well received at such a beautiful, meaningful place. We are filled with grace and humility,” he wrote Trudeau in the Golden Temple visitors’ book.
Apart from his wife Sophie Grégoire and three children, Trudeau is being accompanied by Ministers Harjit Sajjan, Navdeep Bains, Bardish Chagger, Kirsty Duncan, and Amarjeet Sohi and 15 Members of Parliament of Canada.
Dressed in Punjabi attire, Trudeau and his delegation reached Golden Temple just before 12 noon where they were received by the SGPC delegation, including SGPC president Gobind Singh Longowal and former deputy chief minister Punjab Sukhbir Singh Badal.
SGPC and Punjab Police had made special arrangements for the visit. A human chain of SGPC employees separated devotees from the delegation on the temple premises. Trudeau and his family were first taken to the community kitchen where the family tried their hand at making chapatis. Devotees welcomed Trudeau with chants of Bole So Nihal while Trudeau responded with Sat Sri Akal and Waheguru ji ka Khalsa , Waheguru ji ki Fateh. He was then taken inside Golden Temple where he was honoured with a siropa by head priest Jagtar Singh.
Trudeau also visited the Partition museum and spent about 25 minutes there. He left a note on the Tree of Hope that read the Museum is “a poignant reminder that dividing people is never the answer; we must learn to live together and love our differences.”
On the Partition Museum, Trudeau also said “to think of the lives torn apart, the violence and loss…We need to remember that it’s always easy to divide people. It’s much more difficult but it’s the only path to bring people together in love and understanding. We have to be ever vigilant that that is what we are putting into the world and that is the way we are building our future”.
