A rendezvous with Punjab Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh is not on the itinerary of Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who will be visiting the country from February 17 to 23.
Trudeau is scheduled to visit Amritsar’s Golden Temple on February 21, where Capt Amarinder will accompany him, after receiving the Canadian Prime Minister at the airport.
The Canadian premier is visiting India at the invitation of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Other than Amritsar, Trudeau will also visit Agra, Ahmedabad, Mumbai, besides Delhi.
In Amritsar, Trudeau will be visiting the Golden Temple — the holiest of Sikh shrines. Besides, Trudeau is also likely to visit the Partition Museum, recently established in the colonial-era building of Town Hall in the vicinity of Golden Temple. The Canadian team had inspected the Museum too during its visit on Thursday.
Trudeau will be accompanied by six ministers, including four Sikhs of Punjabi origin — Harjit Sajjan whom Capt Amarinder had boycotted when he visited last year while dubbing him as “Khalistani sympathiser”, Navdeep Bains, Amarjit Sohi and Bardish Chagger.
Earlier, Capt Amarinder had publicly accused members of Trudeau’s cabinet, including Sajjan, of being connected to the formation of Khalistan — a separate Sikh state movement. Only last week, Capt Amarinder had stated that he was looking forward to meeting the Canadian Prime Minister.
However, the sources maintained that Trudeau will not have official meeting with Capt Amarinder. Officials in the Canadian Prime Minister's Office have said that no such meeting is planned. “We have nothing planned with him (Amarinder) at this time,” said a Canadian official.