New Delhi: Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, on Monday, reacted to the return of his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi government and said it will open opportunities and a "new perspective" to engage with New Delhi. While speaking to CBC News, the Canadian PM emphasised that his government will take serious issues around national security and keep Canadians safe while maintaining the rule of law. "Now that he's through his election, I think there is an opportunity for us to engage, including on some very serious issues around national security and keeping Canadians safe and the rule of law," Trudeau told David Cochrane, host of the CBC News program Power and Politics.
Trudeau's rhetoric came nearly three days after he met PM Modi in Italy on the sidelines of the G7 Summit. Referring to his brief meeting with PM Modi he underscored that the summit provided an opportunity to engage directly with the leaders. The Canadian PM said the summit let the leaders discuss a huge range of pressing issues.
"I think one of the really good things about summits is you get an opportunity to engage directly with a huge range of different leaders with whom there are various issues," Trudeau said. "And certainly with India, there are massive people-to-people ties, there are really important economic ties, there's alignment on a number of big issues that we need to work on as democracies, as a global community," the Canadian media quoted Trudeau as saying.
Trudeau refrains from sharing details
Later on Saturday, Trudeau, during a press conference in Savelletri Di Fasano, Italy, said he would not delve into the details of the conversation he had with PM Modi, citing the sensitivity of the case. Although he did not specifically mention about which case he was referring to. "I'm not going to get into the details of this important, sensitive issue that we need to follow up, but this was a commitment to work together, in the coming times, to deal with some very important issues," CBS News quoted Trudeau as saying during the morning presser.
It is worth mentioning this was the first time when both leaders faced each other Trudeau levelled allegations against India in the killing of Khalistani leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar in June last year. Trudeau's allegations came barely a few days after he left New Delhi following the G20 meeting. India, on multiple occasions, dubbed the allegations "baseless" and "absurd". Earlier last month, Canadian Police arrested four Indian nationals for their alleged involvement in the killing of Nijjar.
Trudeau's bizarre congratulatory post for PM Modi
Amid the chaotic situation, the relations between the two nations nosedived to a historic low, where India asked Ottawa to minimise their staff strength from the New Delhi Embassy and had briefly halted the visa operations. Earlier this month, when PM Modi won the third term, Trudeau sent a congratulatory message to the Indian Prime Minister but with bizarre advice on human rights. The suggestion had in fact backfired Trudeau on social media where his own countrymen asked him to maintain the law and order situation of Canada and then school New Delhi.
When the duo met in Italy on June 14 on the sidelines of the G7 Summit, PM Modi shared a photograph with Trudeau on social media and captioned it with a one-liner. "Met Canadian PM @JustinTrudeau at the G7 Summit," read the social media post of PM Modi. On the other hand, Trudeau did not post anything about meeting with Modi on social media platforms.
Also Read: G7 Summit: This is what Canada's Justin Trudeau told PM Modi when duo met in Italy
