India Offered To Fly Back Justin Trudeau On IAF One After Jet Snag: Report

New Delhi:

India had offered services of aircraft IAF One to Canada’s Justin Trudeau after his special aircraft developed a technical glitch shortly before his departure from New Delhi after the G20 Summit, said sources. According to Canada’s National Defence, the snag involved a part that must be replaced.

The Canadian side, however, declined the offer and chose to wait for the backup aircraft, they added.

Canadian PM Trudeau and his delegation departed from the national capital on Tuesday afternoon after being stranded here for two days.

Trudeau, who arrived in India for the G20 Summit on Friday, had to extend his stay in the national capital after a technical snag on his Airbus plane on Sunday night, prompting the Canadian side to call for an alternate aircraft for the PM and his delegate.

The alternate aircraft that was expected to arrive in Delhi on Monday night made an unscheduled diversion to London, further delaying Trudeau’s India departure.

Earlier in the day, Rajeev Chandrasekhar, Union Minister of State (MoS) for Electronics and Information Technology thanked Trudeau for his presence at the G20 Summit on behalf of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Canada-based CBC News reported that Trudeau continued to work from his hotel in New Delhi.

Earlier it was reported that the Royal Canadian Air Force sent a CC-150 Polaris from CFB Trenton to India on Sunday night to pick up Justin Trudeau and his delegation. 

Meanwhile, in addition to attending the G20 Summit, Trudeau held a meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the sidelines of the G20 Summit in Delhi.

During the meeting, PM Modi raised “strong concerns” about the continuous “anti-India activities” by extremist elements in Canada, and stated that it is essential for the two countries to cooperate in dealing with such threats.

Trudeau, while responding on the issue, told the media that Canada will always defend “freedom of expression”, and at the same time will always be there to “prevent violence”.