Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh said on Wednesday that Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau had assured him that his country did not support any separatist movement in India or elsewhere. The much-awaited meeting between Singh and Trudeau took place at a hotel in Amritsar. At the meeting, where Canadian Defence Minister Harjit Singh Sajjan and Punjab Local Bodies Minister Navjot Singh Sidhu were also present, the CM raised the issue of Indo-Canadians believed to be involved in targeted killings in Punjab and urged him to take stern action against such elements. During the 40-minute meeting between the two leaders, Singh handed over to Trudeau a list of nine “Category A” Canada-based operatives allegedly involved in hate crimes in Punjab by financing and supplying weapons for terrorist activities and radicalising youth and children here. Amarinder also interacted with Trudeau’s family and had a hand shake with Harjit Singh Sajjan, who he had earlier refused to meet when he last visited India. Later, the Punjab government said in a statement released in the evening, “The categorical assurance from Trudeau came when Captain Amarinder sought the Canadian PM’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,” it said. “Canadian PM assured Captain Amarinder of addressing all concerns raised by the latter, saying he looked forward to closer ties with India, particularly with Punjab, which he was happy to see progressing well,” it added. During the meeting, Captain Amarinder called for cooperation between India and Canada on the issues of terrorism, crime and drugs, while seeking greater sharing of relevant information, in the interest of national and international security. Citing the close historical ties between the two countries, particularly in the context of the contribution of both Indians and Canadians in the Great War, Captain Amarinder underlined the need for their governments to work closely together in mutual interest. He pointed out that 64,000 Canadian and 74,000 Indian soldiers who fought in World War I were lying buried together in 134 cemeteries, creating an unbreakable tie between the two countries.
