Justin Trudeau, the Canadian prime minister, received a lukewarm welcome at the start of his official India visit, with some claiming he had been "snubbed" by New Delhi over his support of Sikh separatists.
After landing on Saturday, Mr Trudeau was received by a junior agricultural minister and only by district officials when he visited the iconic Taj Mahal in Agra a day later.
His welcome stands in stark contrast to heads of foreign governments who have been personally received at New Delhi’s airport by prime minister Narendra Modi himself, known for his warm public embraces with world leaders.
Mr Trudeau was also not afforded the usual fanfare of being greeted by the provincial chief minister of northern Uttar Pradesh state, where Agra is located.
Diplomatic sources said by "downgrading" these subtle arrangements, Modi’s Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government was "indicating" its displeasure over Mr Trudeau attending an event organised by Sikhs in Toronto last May that featured posters and flags demanding the Sikh homeland of Khalistan.
Susan Walsh/ AP
Canada is home to 468,000 Sikhs, comprising 1.4 per cent of its population and a small, but influential number of them had financially and politically backed the 15-year long Sikh insurgency in northern Punjab state for an independent homeland of Khalistan or Land of the Pure.
The Sikh separatist movement claimed over 80,000 lives before it was crushed around 1993, but much to New Delhi’s chagrin small groups of Sikhs in Canada have continued to support the creation of Khalistan.
In a running diplomatic battle that has resulted in turbulent ties between the two countries, India has accused successive Canadian administrations, including Mr Trudeau’s, of backing these Sikh groups, known as Khalistani’s. Many such Sikh activists had also acquired political importance, adding to bilateral seesaw relations between India and Canada.
Meanwhile, uncertainty looms over whether Mr Trudeau will meet with Punjab chief minister Amrinder Singh when he visits the Golden Temple, the Vatican of the Sikhs in Sikhism’s holy city of Amritsar on Wednesday.
Last year Mr Singh had refused to meet Harjit Sajjan, the Canadian defence minister, during his visit to Punjab last April on the grounds that the ethnic Sikh minister was a Khalistan sympathiser. India also accused other Sikhs in Mr Trudeau’s cabinet of similar leanings.
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Officials in Punjab, however, told The Telegraph that in all likelihood Mr Singh would receive Mr Trudeau on his arrival in Amritsar and escort him to the Golden Temple. But the possibility of a one-on-one meeting is still awaiting foreign ministry approval from New Delhi.
Mr Trudeau is in Mr Modi’s western home state of Gujarat on Monday and will also hold business meetings in Mumbai to promote bilateral trade later this week.
The two PM’s are due to meet in Delhi on February 23 where discussions between the two delegations are expected to include cooperation in the fields of civil nuclear, space and defence.
Modi is known for bear-hugging world leaders on their arrival in India, like Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, former French president Francoise Hollande and Barack Obama.