Trudeau’s plane breaks down leaving him stranded in India after G20 ends

Aircraft experienced ‘technical issues’, says Trudeau’s office

Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau and his delegation were forced to stay an extra night in India after their aircraft experienced "technical issues", his office said on Sunday.

Mr Trudeau, who attended the G20 Summit in New Delhi, had been due to depart India on Sunday evening local time.

"Upon our departure for the airport, we were made aware by the Canadian Armed Forces that CFC001 was experiencing technical issues," a statement from the prime minister’s office said, referring to the plane. "These issues are not fixable overnight, our delegation will be staying in India until alternate arrangements are made."

The statement, however, did not specify the nature of the aircraft’s issues.

Earlier in the day, Mr Trudeau met his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi, where the host raised concerns about “anti-India activities of extremist elements” in Canada, in an apparent reference to the Khalistan movement.

It refers to a demand for a separate Sikh nation-state, splitting away from the northern Indian state of Punjab.

“They are promoting secessionism and inciting violence against Indian diplomats, damaging diplomatic premises, and threatening the Indian community in Canada and their places of worship,” said a statement from India’s Ministry of External Affairs.

“The nexus of such forces with organized crime, drug syndicates and human trafficking should be a concern for Canada as well. It is essential for the two countries to cooperate in dealing with such threats.”

Responding to questions on Khalistan extremism in Canada, prime minister Trudeau said, “The actions of few do not represent the entire community or Canada”.

“Over the years, with PM Modi, we have had many conversations on both issues,” he said of Khalistani extremism and “foreign interference”.

“Canada will always defend freedom of expression, freedom of conscience, and freedom of peaceful protest and it is extremely important to us.. at the same time we are always there to prevent violence and to push back against hatred,” he said.

“I think on the issue of the community, it is important to remember that the actions of the few do not represent the entire community or Canada. The flip side of it, we also highlighted the importance of respecting the rule of law and we did talk about foreign interference.”

The comments come as Canada announced last week about a judge leading public inquiry into the allegation of whether China, Russia, India and Iran interfered in Canadian federal elections in 2019 and 2021 that helped in re-election of Mr Trudeau’s Liberals.