Royal Canadian Mounted Police had earlier said they were aware of Jaspal Atwal had been invited to meet Canadian delegation in India only when the news broke.
New Delhi: Canada has revealed that its federal police force — Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) — was aware that controversial pro-Khalistan businessman Jaspal Atwal had been invited to meet Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s delegation in India far earlier than previously stated.
The Atwal scandal broke on 22 February, when photographs of him with the Canadian PM’s wife Sophie Grégoire Trudeau and other prominent Canadian leaders at a state reception in Mumbai surfaced online. The Canadian government confirmed that the RCMP knew of the invitation two days earlier, on 20 February.
The RCMP had earlier said that they only found out about Atwal’s invitation on 22 February, like the rest of the world did.
While the RCMP is the body responsible for Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s security, it had stated that it had “never been specifically mandated to vet or accredit invited guests at functions hosted in Canada or abroad”.
Conflicting information
The Canadian government’s revelation that the RCMP was, in fact, aware of Atwal’s invitation comes as a further blow to National Security Advisor Daniel Jean’s credibility.
Jean stoked a controversy when he said that “elements within the Indian government” had tried to sabotage Trudeau’s visit to India by inviting Atwal, who was convicted of trying to assassinate a former Punjab minister, to a formal dinner.
Jean reportedly claimed that this was done to make Trudeau appear to be sympathetic to the Khalistani cause. Atwal is a known Khalistani supporter.
Trudeau even backed Jean’s claim, saying that a senior security official like him would only make this claim because he “knows it to be true”.
However, this claim was rescinded by Jean in a public testimony on 16 April. He said that the Indian government “definitely” wasn’t behind the Atwal’s appearance at the reception.
Jaspal Atwal was convicted for attempting to assassinate former Punjab minister Malkiat Singh Sidhu in 1986. He was a member of the International Sikh Youth Federation, which has been banned by the Canadian government.
His appearance at the official reception in Mumbai with the Trudeau delegation sparked an uproar. The external affairs ministry called the Canadian “conspiracy theory” that India had orchestrated Atwal’s appearance “baseless” and “unacceptable”.
Atwal eventually apologised for the “embarrassment” he had caused Trudeau, who he has met and associated with several times in the past.