Justin Trudeau: Khalistani terrorist should never have been invited

Canadian PM Justin Trudeau, with son Hadrien, daughter Ella-Grace, and former Indian cricket captain Mohammad Azharuddin, watches as his son Xavier bats, during a visit to a school, in New Delhi. Pic/PTI

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's India visit plunged into yet another controversy yesterday over a dinner invitation to convicted Khalistani terrorist Jaspal Atwal by the Canadian High Commissioner to India.

Swiftly moving to control damage, High Commissioner Nadir Patel cancelled the invitation for the dinner, hosted last night for Trudeau, while the external affairs ministry said it will "ascertain" how Atwal entered India. Trudeau told reporters, "Obviously we take this situation extremely seriously. The individual in question never should have received an invitation and, as soon as we found out, we rescinded the invitation immediately... The member of Parliament who included this individual has, and will, assume full responsibility for his actions." Atwal is one of four men convicted for ambushing and shooting Punjab Minister Malkiat Singh Sidhu at Vancouver Island in 1986.

MEA says
The Ministry of External Affairs, however, said it was trying to find out how Atwal managed to come to India. Atwal no longer figures in the Home Ministry's blacklist of Sikh extremists, its officials said.