Amritsar: Underlining the significance of the large and influential Sikh and Punjabi community settled in his country, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, accompanied by his wife and children, offered prayers at the Golden Temple on Wednesday.
Dressed in traditional Indian clothes and their heads covered, the Trudeau family bowed before the holy book of the Sikhs and tried their hand at making chappatis at the ‘langar’ as they spent over an hour at the holiest of Sikh shrines.
Trudeau, who later met Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh in a hotel here, said that his country did not support any separatist movement in India or elsewhere.
Amarinder Singh later said that he raised the issue of ‘Khalistan’ and the support certain elements in Canada were giving to it to cause disturbance in Punjab.
“The categorical assurance from Trudeau came when Captain Amarinder Singh sought the Canadian Prime Minister’s cooperation in cracking down on separatism and hate crime by a fringe element, constituting a miniscule percentage of Canada’s population.
“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,” Chief Minister’s Media Advisor Raveen Thukral disclosed after their 40-minute meeting.
Amarinder Singh thanked Trudeau for his explicit stand on a united India.
He also handed over a list of nine 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.
The Punjab Chief Minister also raised the issue of Indo-Canadians, believed to be involved in targeted killings in the state, urging him to initiate stern action against such elements.
Pointing out that trade and commerce relations between the two were very low at the moment, he urged Trudeau to take steps to push investment by Canadian businesses in Punjab. The two leaders agreed to collaborate through joint projects.
— IANS
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