Justin Trudeau says Jaspal Atwal shouldn't have received invitation; MEA unsure how he got visa

Amid ongoing row over the presence of Khalistani terrorist Jaspal Atwal at an official state reception, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said that he should never have received an invitation.

In a recently released photo, Atwal was seen posing along with Canadian Prime Minister's wife Sophie Trudeau at an event in Mumbai on February 20.

Stating that the country was taking the incident extremely seriously, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said, "He should never have received an invitation. As soon as we received the info we rescinded it. A member of Parliament had included this individual."

"Canada and India are countries committed to pursuing and upholding democracy. We are the two largest democracies in the world, one by size and one by population," Trudeau said in Delhi

Earlier in the day, Canada also assured that the Atwal is not part of the official delegation to the PM's visit to India, nor was he invited by the Prime Minister's Office.

"It's important to be clear that this individual is not part of the official delegation to the PM's visit to India, nor was he invited by the Prime Minister's Office. As is the case with international trips, individuals sometimes travel on their own to the location of the visit," said Canadian Prime Minister's Office (PMO).

Meanwhile, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said that it is ascertaining details from its mission on convicted Khalistani terrorist Jaspal Atwal getting a visa.

"There are two aspects to it presence and visa. The Canadian side has already clarified that the invitation has been withdrawn. About the Visa, I don't know how it happened. We will ascertain information from our Commission," said MEA Spokesperson  Raveesh Kumar.

"Let us not presume things and decide how he managed to come. This is something which we are trying to find out. In due course, we will be able to come up with a reason that how he managed to come to India."

On Wednesday, Punjab Chief Minister had said that he raised the issue of militancy with Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau during his visit to the state.

The Canadian PM is on a week-long visit to India. Trudeau is accompanied by wife and three children -- Ella-Grace, Xavier and Hadrien.

The incident

In 1986, Malkat Singh Sidhum a Minister of State of the Punjab government was in Canada to attend his neighbour’s wedding when four individuals smashed Sidhu’s car with hammers and fired five bullets into the car. Bullets struck Sidhu in the arm and chest and the assailants fled after they though Sidhu was dead. Jaspal Singh Atwal along with three others were convicted to 20 years’ imprisonment but their cases were overturned on a legal technicality.

It showed that the evidence against the four were obtained on a fraudulent warrant by Canadian intelligence, however, their sentences were held up by another judge in 1990.

He was also convicted in an automobile fraud case and was charged but not convicted in a 1985 attack on Ujjal Dosanjh, a Khalistani opponent who became premier of British Colombia. Atwal’s presence certainly puts a strain on Indo-Canada relations, and the news that has emerged will put a shadow on the rest of Trudeau’s trip.