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Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau with wife Sophie Gregoire Trudeau and children visit the Taj Mahal in Agra Image Credit: PTI

NEW DELHI: The speculation is over, Indian Prime Minister is going to meet Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

“I look forward to meeting PM @JustinTrudeau tomorrow and holding talks on further strengthening India-Canada relations in all spheres. I appreciate his deep commitment to ties between our two countries,” tweeted Modi.

Earlier, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau met India's corporate titans on Tuesday as he pursued a tour of the country.

Trudeau addressed a business conference in Mumbai on Tuesday morning, attended by leaders from the Tata conglomerate, IT giants Infosys and pharmaceutical major Jubilant Life Sciences.

But Indian and Canadian media said Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has sidestepped his Canadian counterpart over the Trudeau administration's perceived support for Sikh separatists and dealings with Sikh groups in Canada.

Canada is home to roughly half a million Sikhs and a significant number appear to back a decades-long Sikh campaign in India's northern Punjab state for an independent homeland of Khalistan.

Trudeau was received by a junior minister when he arrived at New Delhi airport on Saturday and by district officials when he visited the historic Taj Mahal monument in Agra the next day.

Modi often meets leading heads of government at the airport with bear hugs and cheerful photo-ops.

He was again missing, however, when Trudeau visited Modi's home state of Gujarat on Monday.

The social media-savvy Modi, who has 40.4 million Twitter followers, is also yet to tweet a welcome message to Trudeau as he does customarily for other leaders.

So is Modi giving Trudeau the royal ignore?

A background to what's happening

By Dona Cherian, Writer - Guides

Adding meat to the rumour is that the 'Modi hug factor' wasn't on display at all for this visit. The Indian Prime Minister, Narendra Modi is known for his personal welcome and bear hugs for most global leaders who arrive in India.

This, Modi's usual style in itself, is a breach of protocol. However, the fact that Trudeau wasn't received with a 'Modi Hug' when he landed in New Delhi, and even when in Modi's home state of Gujarat is further fuelling the talk of the Canadian premier being ignored. 

Was he actually ignored? We try to get to the bottom of it.

Who is Justin Trudeau and what makes him special?

By Yousra Zaki, Deputy Editor - Guides

Who is Justin Trudeau?

Justin Pierre Trudeau is the current prime minister of Canada. He was born in Ottawa, Ontario on December 25, 1971, making him 46 years old today. He is one of the youngest Prime Ministers in Canadian history.

Fluently bilingual in English and French, Canada’s two official languages,

The former high school teacher first captured national attention in the year 2000 with a moving eulogy at his father’s state funeral. He challenged the country to cement his late father, Pierre Trudeau’s vision of a united and multicultural Canada, moving many people to tears.

Why is Justin Trudeau so special?

Justin Trudeau is regularly praised globally for being progressive leader, who is compassionate, open minded and very welcoming of refugees. He supports gender equality, immigration and he combats climate change among many other things. 

He is thoroughly literate in the vocabulary of tolerance and sensitivity making him one of the most compassionate leaders of this time.

When he allowed 25,000 Syrian refugees to come into Canada, he went to the airport to greet them himself and help hand out warm winter coats.

When he was choosing his cabinet, he made sure that it was diverse and an equal number of women and men, so as to get an accurate representation of the Canadian population, and also “Because it’s 2015”

Trudeau actively fought for global climate change, by making an international commitment to reduce greenhouse gas emissions with a five step plan on how Canada will play its part.

In addition to balancing babies on the palm of his hand, participating in charity boxing matches and going to comic con in a superman T-shirt, he projects sincerity and interest and openness.

Trudeau combines elements of the dashing Kennedy clan with a message of hope for a better world. “Sunny ways” are Trudeau’s ways.

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Justin Trudeau's India visit - Why is he there?

By Nilima Pathak, Correspondent

Was Trudeau invited to India? Who invited him?

Trudeau was invited to India by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

What is a state visit?

A state visit is a formal visit by a head of state and is normally at the invitation of the Prime Minister. A state visit is a term used generally for head of state. But for all practical purposes, the protocol is similar for a head of the government.

Is there a difference between a state visit and visit by head of state just for tourism?

There is an official and a non-official visit. In the past, leaders from certain neighbouring countries have come to India and visited certain places of worship and then visited other tourist spots. They pay a visit to the prime minister and have lunch/dinner. But no ceremonials are held.

Are protocols being ignored in Trudeau visit? What is being ignored?

No protocols are being ignored.

What are the issues of Khalistan?

The issue of Khalistan (Sikh nationalist movement that wants to create an independent state for Sikh people, via armed struggle) has kept India-Canada ties on the ice for the past three decades. It is said that Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau received widespread support from some Khalistani political groups when he came to power in 2015.

Last year, he attended a ‘Khalsa Day’ parade organized by one of the gurudwaras in Toronto. Banners at the parade depicted Sikh militant leaders Jarnail Singh Bhindrawale, Amreek Singh and former General Shahbeg Singh, as heroes. They were killed in the siege of the Golden Temple and Operation Bluestar in June 1984.

Sikh extremist groups have been seeking ‘Referendum 2020’ for the worldwide Sikh diaspora to vote for an independent Khalistan. The Indian government had taken up the issue with the Canadian government and Prime Minister Narendra Modi is known to have spoken to Trudeau on the issue when the leaders met at the G-20 Summit in Hamburg, Germany, last year.

Analysis — Is Trudeau being ignored in India?

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s first official visit to India is grabbing headlines for all the wrong reasons. Even as Trudeau and his family landed in the country with namaste (folded hands) it is being said there has been no warm welcome from his Indian counterpart. However, sources in the government say that protocols are being followed, as a Minister of State received him and the correctness of protocol does not amount to a snub.

The official brushed aside the contention that unlike in some other cases, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi did not break protocol to welcome the Trudeau family and they were received by Minister of State for Agriculture Gajendra Singh and Indian Ambassador to Canada Vikas Swarup.

Terming it, “Much ado about nothing,” former Indian diplomat Gopalaswami Parthasarthy remarked, “Unnecessary tamasha is being created by the Indian media. How can anyone say Trudeau is being snubbed? Official visits normally start with official talks and then the visitor goes elsewhere. Trudeau’s visit is going the opposite way. I cannot believe the Government of India suggested it. It must have been Trudeau’s request. We have a strict protocol, wherein a visitor first arrives at the Rashtrapati Bhawan, where the Guard of Honour is held and talks are held. The visitor tours the country thereafter.”

Parthasarthy said, “Once Trudeau visits the Capital, he and PM Modi will certainly hold wide-ranging talks. This could also include discussion on the Khalistan issue. But a visiting prime minister cannot be ignored for this (Khalistan issue) reason. To say there’s discourtesy shown to the visiting prime minister is absolutely incorrect. No government in India can be so stupid to do that.”

The diplomat mentioned there had been exceptions in the case of American President Barack Obama, Chinese President Xi Jinping and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu who were received by Modi.

Gopalaswami Parthasarthy was ambassador of India to Myanmar, High Commissioner of India to Australia, High Commissioner of India to Pakistan and High Commissioner of India to Cyprus. Later he was the spokesperson of the Ministry of External Affairs and the Prime Minister’s Office.