While the India-Canada relationship continue to deplete, Justin Trudeau reportedly became a headache for security officials of India when he refused to stay in the high-security presidential suite during the G20 Summit. As per reports, Canadian PM Justin Trudeau refused to stay in the presidential suite allotted to him under protocol. The suite allotted to Justin Trudeau was furbished by Indian security agencies for the heads of the states. Despite this, Canadian PM Trudeau asked for a normal suite rather than the allotted one. Now, the question arises as to why Canadian PM Justin Trudeau refused to stay at the Presidential suite? Below is what we know so far-
Why did Canadian PM Trudeau refuse to stay in the allotted room?
As per reports, a separate presidential suite was booked for Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in The Lalit hotel in New Delhi but he did not use the presidential suite for a single day. Instead, the Canadian Prime Minister stayed in a normal room at the hotel during his stay in India. Delhi Police and all the security agencies were in charge of the complete security for all the presidential suites., the suite that Trudeau and his team were allotted had special security arrangements, including a bulletproof shield and a thick layer of polycarbonate plastic that can even stop sniper bullets. As part of a special arrangement, other security equipment were also installed. However, Trudeau still refused to stay in it. Not only this, the Canadian PM even offered to pay for the special rooms and still stay in regular suites.
Reports further suggested that the Indian side held multiple rounds of negotiations with the Canadian side, as intelligence agencies also got involved. However, India had budge in from of Canadian demands as the final decision always lies with the foreign delegation and the embassy of that country.
Now, answering the question, it is believed that Canadian PM Trudeau must be acting on the directions of his security staff and intelligence agencies, as they speculated tensions in the bilateral ties in the wake of the ongoing Khalistan movement in Canada.
It is pertinent to mention here that the Canadian PM also refused India's help and offered its flight after Trudeau's private plane was grounded due to a technical snag. Canada's PM went to his country 36 hours after the scheduled time.
Justin Trudeau on backfoot after US, UK snub
Notably, hours after India's tit-for-tat action against Canada, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau toned down his 'absurd' allegations. and stated that he is not trying to provoke New Delhi. "The government of India needs to take this matter with utmost seriousness. We are doing just that... We are not looking to provoke or escalate," Trudeau said in the morning briefing before the House of Commons started. It is pertinent to mention here that Trudeau's tilt to Khalistani outfits came after he has been facing flak from his countrymen over inflation, unemployment, expensive housing taxes and more. Apart from this, Punjabis account for 2.6% of Canada’s total population, with a figure of about 950,000. 770,000 out of these are Sikhs, marking significant representation. Hence, it is quite evident that Trudeau is looking score some brownie points by winning Sikhs votes in the country in order to remain in power.