Manmohan Singh expected to pay respects at Air India Memorial tomorrow

Prime minister Manmohan Singh, on a tour for the G-20 Summit here, is expected to visit the Air India Memorial tomorrow to pay respect to the victims of the 1985 Kanishka bombing that killed 329 people, mostly of Indian origin.

Singh is likely to visit the memorial after the conclusion of the G20 Summit and would also meet the families of victims before his return to India, sources said. 

Air India Kanishka Flight 182 plunged into the Atlantic on June 23, 1985 after an explosion in the aircraft, killing all 329 people on board.

A probe led by retired Supreme Court justice John Major last week blamed the Canadian police and intelligence for laxity in not detecting the bombs planted at the flight by pro-Khalistan elements.

Marking the 25th anniversary of the tragedy, Canadian premier Stephen Harper apologised to the families for the "institutional failings" that led to the bombing. 

Harper said: "the mere fact of the destruction of Air India Flight 182 is the primary evidence that something went very, very wrong. For that, we are sorry".

He apologised for the fact that the legitimate need for answers and empathy of the kin of the victims "were treated with administrative disdain." 

Harper, who had met the families of the victims hours after the report was made public, told them the government would provide compensation to them. 

Singh arrived here yesterday on a three-day visit to attend the G-20 summit. 

He is accompanied by his wife Gursharan Kaur and a high-level delegation including National Security Adviser Shiv Shankar Menon and Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao. 

The prime minister would have separate meetings with US president Barack Obama, British prime minister David Cameron, French president Nicolas Sarkozy and Japan's prime
minister Naoto Kan.

Singh is also scheduled to meet the leaders of the BRIC countries -- Brazil, Russia and China.