Trudeau tours India amid quips PM being given ‘cold shoulder’

NEW DELHI: Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau met India’s corporate titans on Tuesday as he pursued a tour of the country marred by reports he has been snubbed by political leaders.

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. 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. The nationalist Hindu premier shared a photo of himself meeting with Iranian President Hassan Rouhani the same day that Trudeau landed.

“The Khalistan issue, which has kept India-Canada ties on ice through three decades from 1980, has resurfaced, taking away much of the warmth” during Trudeau’s visit, the Hindu daily said Tuesday.