Justin Trudeau charms Punjab in most-watched leg of his India tour

Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau struck all the right notes while visiting Punjab on Wednesday, the most-watched leg of his seven-day India tour.

In a white kurta-pyjama, the visiting premier prayed at the sanctum sanctorum of the Golden Temple along with his family during an almost hour-long visit to the shrine. While monsieur wore a patka (head covering for men), madame covered her head with a chunni (head covering for women) for the visit.

The prime minister and his family also tried rolling out chapatis at the community kitchen (Langar hall) and greeted devotees with folded hands. Scores of visitors could be seen holding up their mobile phones to take pictures and videos of the Trudeaus.

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Canadian PM Justin Trudeau & his family members at the community kitchen inside the Golden Temple premises in Amritsar on Wednesday. (PTI)

His visit to Punjab had triggered a controversy over reported links between key members of his cabinet and Sikh separatists, who want to carve out a part of India for their own mythical country. Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh had refused to meet Canadian Defence Minister Sajjan Singh last year, claiming that the latter was a vociferous supporter of Sikh separatism.

Today, Trudeau met the chief minister along with Sajjan Singh.

“I met the Canadian PM for the first time, he is a very wonderful person. I raised issue of Khalistan as it's the primary issue, as there is money coming in from various countries including Canada to Punjab to create this ruckus. The PM is aware of it and he has told me that he is going to look into this,” Amarinder Singh said after the meeting.

Adding fuel to the fire was the reported snub to Trudeau by the Indian government. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who often greets his counterparts on their arrival, sent a junior minister from the agriculture department to meet Trudeau at the airport. By contrast, Modi himself was on the tarmac to greet and bear-hug Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu when he visited last month.

Trudeau's lukewarm reception, according to media reports, was due to India's concerns about his perceived soft approach to Sikh extremist groups in his country, and those that sympathise with them.

Opinion: Why India and Canada need to look beyond Khalistan

However, Trudeau strongly rejected suggestions that Canada was encouraging Sikh extremism, saying Canada's position of supporting "one united India" had not changed. "I have met with the prime minister in various places around the world and looking forward to sitting down with him on Friday," he said, dismissing reports that he had been snubbed by Modi.

Also See: When Justin Trudeau met Aamir and Shah Rukh Khan

Whatever may be the outcome of those bilateral talks, the Trudeau family’s huge popularity across the gamut of India’s regular and social media will certainly linger in India’s institutional memory for a long time to come.