Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau met with External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj on Friday, ahead of his meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and an extended bilateral meeting along with a group of his ministers. Trudeau's maiden India visit plunged into another controversy on Thursday because of a dinner invitation to convicted Khalistani terrorist Jaspal Atwal by the Canadian High Commissioner to India. On Friday morning, Prime Minister Modi received Canadian Prime Minister Trudeau and his family at the Rashtrapati Bhawan. Greeting the visiting head of state, PM Modi gave Trudeau his famous bear hug. After being welcomed at the Rashtrapati Bhawan, Trudeau and his family paid their tributes to Mahatma Gandhi at Rajghat. After his meeting with Prime Minister Modi, the Canadian Prime Minister will also meet the heads of India Inc in a round-table event. While the Khalistan controversy raged, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday evening welcomed Trudeau on his visit and said he looked forward to meeting him on Friday. In a separate tweet, Modi said that he hoped Trudeau had an enjoyable visit to India so far and that he particularly looked forward to meeting Trudeau's three children Xavier, Ella-Grace, and Hadrien. PM Modi also posted a picture of him along with Trudeau and Ella-Grace during his visit to Canada in April 2015. Responding to PM Modi's welcome tweet, Trudeau tweeted back that his daughter Ella-Grace remembered the occasion on which the photo was taken and that his visit to India had been "great" so far. "We'll see you today," the Canadian Prime Minister said. Ahead of Friday's meetings, reports had emerged that Atwal was invited to a formal dinner with the Canadian Prime Minister, hosted by the Canadian High Commissioner, on Thursday in New Delhi. Atwal's dinner invitation was subsequently cancelled. Here are the top 10 developments in the matter: 1) Justin Trudeau's full itinerary for Friday: On Friday, at 9 am, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is scheduled to attend an official greeting ceremony at the Rashtrapati Bhavan. At 9:30 am, Trudeau is scheduled to participate in a wreath laying ceremony at Raj Ghat. #WATCH: PM Narendra Modi receives Canadian Prime Minister #JustinTrudeau & his family at Rashtrapati Bhawan. pic.twitter.com/g1rxUiNAu1 Canadian Prime Minister #JustinTrudeau and family welcomed by PM Modi at Rashtrapati Bhawan. pic.twitter.com/nUxCM83VhD
#Delhi: Canadian Prime Minister #JustinTrudeau & his family pay tribute to Mahatma Gandhi at Rajghat. pic.twitter.com/M3sDqfgmPy Canadian Prime Minister #JustinTrudeau meets EAM Sushma Swaraj in #Delhi. pic.twitter.com/9ta68iML8Y
After that, at 10:15 am, Prime Minister Trudeau is scheduled to meet External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj. Finally, at 12 pm, Trudeau will meet with Prime Minister Narendra Modi at Hyderabad House.
At 12:30 pm, Canadian Prime Minister Trudeau, Innovation, Science and Economic Development Minister Navdeep Bains, Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland, Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan, Infrastructure and Communities Minister Amarjeet Sohi, Science and Sport and Persons with Disabilities Minister Kirsty Duncan, and Small Business and Tourism Minister Bardish Chagger will hold an expanded bilateral meeting with Prime Minister Modi. After the bilateral meeting, at 1:15 pm, Prime Minister Trudeau will participate in an exchange of agreements ceremony with Prime Minister Modi and will deliver remarks. Once his engagements with the Indian government are over, at 2:45 pm, Prime Minister Trudeau will participate in a roundtable with chief executive officers. At 5 pm, Trudeau will return to the Rashtrapi Bhavan and meet with the President Ram Nath Kovind. 2) Atwal posed with Trudeau's wife, got invitation for dinner with PM Trudeau: On Thursday, reports emerged that convicted Khalistani terrorist Jaspal Atwal, who was active in the banned International Sikh Youth Federation, posed with Trudeau's wife Sophie Trudeau at an event in Mumbai on February 20. Further, Atwal was invited to a formal dinner with the Canadian Prime Minister, hosted by the Canadian High Commissioner, on Thursday in New Delhi. Subsequently, Canadian High Commissioner Nadir Patel cancelled Thursday night's dinner invitation to Atwal. Patel was hosting the dinner for the visiting Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his delegation. "The High Commission has rescinded Mr Atwal's invitation. We do not comment on matters relating to the PM's security," the Canadian mission said in a statement. ALSO READ: From 'snub' to scandal: Canadian PM Trudeau's India visit in nutshell How serious was the issue? Atwal is no small fish; he had been convicted for the attempted murder of Punjab minister Malkiat Singh Sidhu on Vancouver Island in 1986. At the time of the 1986 shooting, he was a Sikh separatist active in the pro-Khalistan International Sikh Youth Federation. Atwal, along with three others, was convicted in 1987 for trying to kill Malkiat Singh Sidhu. 3) Trudeau says Atwal should never have been invited: Canadian PM Trudeau on Thursday said the matter was being taken "extremely seriously". Stating that his government took the matter "extremely seriously", the Canadian Prime Minister said that Atwal "should never have received an invitation". "As soon as we received the info, we rescinded it. A Member of Parliament had included this individual (Atwal)," Trudeau explained. "The member of Parliament who included this individual has, and will, assume full responsibility for his actions," the Canadian Prime Minister added. ALSO READ: Canadian PM Justin Trudeau pitches for closer economic ties with India Trudeau's Khalistani problem continues to dog him, while the Canadian media has said that he has been given the cold shoulder by the Indian government, even as the latter has denied any such speculation. 4) Atwal no longer on MHA blacklist: While the controversy raged, officials told news agencies that Atwal's name no longer figured in the Home Ministry's blacklist of Sikh extremists. From time to time, the central government reviews the blacklist of Sikh extremists, taking into account intelligence inputs and activities of the persons concerned, a home ministry official said. Names of nearly 150 wanted terrorists and their associates were removed from the blacklist in the past few years, the official added. "Atwal's name no longer figures on the current blacklist," the official said.
The review of the blacklist is always done in consultation with the Punjab government and central security agencies. ALSO READ: Trudeau gets billion-dollar pacts in India visit; to generate 6,000 jobs
5) MEA looking into how Atwal got a visa: For its part, the government is "ascertaining" details regarding how the convicted Khalistani terrorist got a visa to enter India, External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Raveesh Kumar said on Thursday. "There are two aspects of this. One is his presence at the event. I think this is something which should be addressed by the Canadian side. They have said that it was an oversight. On the visa part, I cannot immediately say how that happened. There are different ways of people coming into India, whether you are an Indian national, or OCI card holder. We are ascertaining details from our mission. We will have to see how this happened," Kumar told reporters. 6) Not clear whether Atwal can be arrested in India: On whether Atwal could be arrested in India, the External Affairs Ministry spokesperson said that there were cases against him for which he had served his sentence. The ministry was not aware whether there were cases against him in India. that would have to be checked with law-enforcement agencies, he added. 7) Canada supports a strong and united India: Amid criticism faced by Trudeau over the Khalistan issue, Canadian Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland on Thursday said that Canada "supports a strong and united India", but made it clear that her country was very proud of its diverse society, which included the Sikh community. Freeland said Canada was mindful of the menace of terrorism and the scars and deaths that India had endured, which she described as mind-boggling. Further, Freeland said the issue was discussed during her meeting with External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj on Thursday. "I did discuss the issue with the (Indian) foreign minister and I will leave it to her to comment on her impressions of the conversation. But I felt it was a very constructive and useful discussion we had," Freeland said. ALSO READ: Justin Trudeau in India: Modi govt denies any 'snub'; top 10 developments 8) Atwal cries foul: Convicted Khalistani terrorist Jaspal Atwal, for his part, has said that it was unfair to raise his "criminal conviction" because of how long ago the attempted attack on the Punjab minister occurred. Atwal told Canada's Postmedia that it was unfair to raise his criminal conviction for shooting visiting Punjabi Cabinet minister Malkiat Singh Sidhu on Vancouver Island in 1986 given how long ago the crime occurred, the daily said. He blamed "enemies" for circulating the photos obtained by Postmedia and stressed that he travelled to India on his own on February 11 and was not part of any official government delegation. Atwal said in a series of text messages on Thursday that he was in India for Media Waves, a Surrey online radio station. The pictures of him and Sophie Gregoire Trudeau, as well as Canadian Infrastructure Minister Amarjeet Sohi, were taken at an event in Mumbai, Atwal said. 9) Canadian MP apologises for inviting Atwal: Canadian Member of Parliament Randeep S Sarai took responsibility for inviting Jaspal Atwal to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's reception dinner in New Delhi. "I alone facilitated his request to attend this important event. I should have exercised better judgment, and I take full responsibility for my actions," Sarai said in a statement, which Canadian journalist Abigail Bimman shared on Twitter.10) Amarinder gave Trudeau a list of nine Canada-based operatives: Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh on Wednesday handed Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau a list of nine Canada-based operatives, who are allegedly involved in promoting radicalism, as the Khalistan issue featured prominently in the talks between the two leaders in Amritsar. The nine Canada-based operatives are allegedly involved in target-killings and other hate crimes in Punjab, including financing and supply of weapons for terrorist activities, an official said. Amarinder Singh urged Trudeau to initiate stern action against such elements..@randeepssarai takes responsibility for inviting Jaspal Atwal and apologizes. Full statement here. #cdnpoli pic.twitter.com/4nVdkBuxWz
— Abigail Bimman (@AbigailBimman) February 22, 2018
With agency inputs
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