On Monday, September 18, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau further damaged India-Canada’s already strained relations by blaming India for the killing of Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar in Canada. India, in a strong statement, categorically denied Trudeau’s allegations. The claim made by the Canadian PM sparked an escalating controversy, with both Ottawa and New Delhi expelling senior diplomats.
Interestingly, amid the heightened tensions between the two countries caused by Trudeau’s outrageous remark, Canadian Parliamentarian Shuv Majumdar almost predicted that Justin Trudeau would pick up a fight with India after the backlash he received not only from India and other world leaders but even from his own country for his visit during the G20 Summit in Delhi.
The 2023 G20 New Delhi summit was held in New Delhi on 9–10 September 2023. On September 11, Shuv Majumdar took to X, formally Twitter, to write, “The countdown begins now on how long it takes for the Trudeau government, Liberal insiders, and the woke establishment to vilify the world’s largest democracy.”
The countdown begins now on how long it takes for the Trudeau government, Liberal insiders, and the woke establishment to vilify the world’s largest democracy. https://t.co/WgNInBeZxw
— Shuv Majumdar (@shuvmajumdar) September 11, 2023
The Canadian Parliamentarian’s post was in response to the Canadian local media Toronto Sun’s scathing coverage of Trudeau’s failure to garner attention in New Delhi. The local Canadian media had chastised its Prime Minister for being overlooked by Indian and other foreign leaders during the G20 Summit.
Notably, Shuvaloy ‘Shuv’ Majumdar, MP is a Canadian politician from the Conservative Party of Canada who has been Member of Parliament for Calgary Heritage since the July 24, 2023 by-election.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau ignored and left stranded in India during the G20 summit, reviled back home
It may be recalled that during the G20 Summit, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi had held bilateral meetings with world leaders including US President Joe Biden, UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and French President Emmanuel Macron, among others, but he did not hold a formal bilateral meeting with Trudeau. Denying Trudeau’s request to hold a bilateral meeting PM Modi had instead held a ‘pull-aside meeting on the sidelines’ with him wherein the Indian Prime Minister expressed strong concern over Khalistani extremism in Canada.
A pull-aside meeting is not a formal bilateral meeting and is ranked below a bilateral meeting. A pull-aside meeting can take place whenever two leaders meet.
Moreover, the Canadian PM was also seen missing from G20’s Global Biofuels Alliance (GBA) which all other major world powers had attended. He also skipped the dinner for the G20 leaders on September 9, with the Canadian prime minister’s office refusing to say why.
On Saturday, September 9, on the first day of the two-day G20 Summit, PM Modi was seen signalling Trudeau to keep moving after a brief interaction as the Indian PM welcomed world leaders at Bharat Mandapam – the venue of the G20 Leaders’ Summit.
While the Prime Minister met all the heads of state with the G20 backdrop, the meeting with the Canadian Prime Minister did not have a G20 backdrop in the post shared by PM Modi on his official Twitter handle.
Moreover, the caption for all the meetings tweeted by the Prime Minister on X read “G20 Summit” whereas the caption on the post about meeting with Trudeau read “sidelines of G20 Summit”.
Met PM @JustinTrudeau on the sidelines of the G20 Summit. We discussed the full range of India-Canada ties across different sectors. pic.twitter.com/iP9fsILWac
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) September 10, 2023
In fact, when Trudeau had arrived in India with his son Xavier ahead of the G20 Summit, Delhi had not even put the customary “welcome” note, as it had for other international leaders. When he arrived, he was welcomed by a Minister of State rather than a Cabinet minister, which was also a notable distinction.
If all of this wasn’t enough to make for an unpleasant visit, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was forced to extend his stay in New Delhi after his plane broke down. While being stranded in Delhi, Trudeau remained holed up in his hotel room – he had accommodation at The Lalit – and refused to move out of the room. The Ministry of External Affairs had then confirmed that they had received no request from Canada for any engagement and media reports suggested that there were no engagements at the local high commission either.
The way Justin Trudeau conducted himself and the treatment he received not only by India but also by the world leaders who were hosted and led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi during the two-day Summit in Delhi was embarrassing for Canada. The Canadian media and opposition party leaders soon turned their guns on Trudeau’s visit to India.
Canadian Daily Toronto Sun mocked their PM for the embarrassment he brought to the country. It published a front-page story with the headline THIS WAY OUT etched in a big and bold font across a picture depicting the said incident. Furthermore, the subheader on the published graphic read, “Trudeau finds he has few friends at G20 summit in India”.
Canadian opposition MP Pierre Poilievre used the picture posted by Toronto Sun and wrote on X, “Now Trudeau gets to experience the same flight delays he has imposed on Canadians through his mismanagement of federal airports.”
“Putting partisanship aside, no one likes to see a Canadian prime minister repeatedly humiliated & trampled upon by the rest of the world,” added Poilievre.
Putting partisanship aside, no one likes to see a Canadian prime minister repeatedly humiliated & trampled upon by the rest of the world. pic.twitter.com/TOR3p4gKgn
— Pierre Poilievre (@PierrePoilievre) September 10, 2023
Similarly, using the same Toronto Sun post, Canadian Parliamentarian Shuv Majumdar predicted a week ago that the entire backlash Trudeau received for his visit to India during G20 would soon lead to Trudeau picking a fight with India, and Trudeau’s recent reckless remark has simply proven the Canadian Parliamentarian correct.
