Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Tuesday finally left India after his stay was extended by at least 36 hours due to a technical snag in his plane.
Trudeau, who was in New Delhi to attend the G20 Summit, had to extend his stay due to a technical snag in his plane. The Canadian delegation was supposed to leave after attending the event on Sunday.
While he was here at the summit, Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed India's deep concern to the Canadian PM about extremist elements in Canada promoting secessionism, inciting violence against its diplomats, and endangering the Indian community. The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said PM Modi, in his talks with Trudeau on the sidelines of the G20 Summit, said that a relationship based on "mutual respect and trust" is essential for the development of ties between the countries.
During his stay in New Delhi, Prime Ministe Modi during talks with him expressed strong concerns about continuing anti-India activities of extremist elements in Canada which promoted secessionism and incited violence against Indian diplomats and threatened the Indian community there.
PM Modi asserted, that a relationship based on 'mutual respect and trust' was essential for the progress of India-Canada relationship.
"The Prime Minister highlighted that India-Canada relations are anchored in shared democratic values, respect for rule of law and strong people-to-people ties," the MEA said in a statement.
"He conveyed our strong concerns about continuing anti-India activities of extremist elements in Canada. 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," it said.
While speaking on the issue, Trudeau assured that there was no space for hatred and the country would always prevent violence. He said, "Both the issues came up. Over the years, with PM Modi, we have had many conversations on both of those issues. 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."
"India is an extraordinarily important economy in the world and an important partner to Canada on everything from fighting climate change to creating growth and prosperity for the citizens," he said.
The Canadian Prime Minister said both sides will continue to look at expansion of existing cooperation, PTI reported.
In a post on 'X', Modi said he and Trudeau discussed the full range of India-Canada ties across different sectors.