Trudeau stands by official who suggested Indian factions sabotaged trip

Justin Trudeau is standing by a senior government official who suggested factions within the Indian government were involved in sabotaging the prime minister’s visit to India last week.

But he’s nevertheless accepted the offer of Liberal backbencher Randeep Sarai, who’s taken responsibility for inviting an attempted murderer to events with the prime minister in India, to resign as the chair of the party’s Pacific caucus.

During his first question period since arriving back in Canada, opposition MPs grilled the prime minister Tuesday about invitations issued to Jaspal Atwal — a B.C. Sikh convicted of attempting to assassinate an Indian cabinet minister in 1986 — to attend two events with the prime minister in India.

In a background briefing arranged by the Prime Minister’s Office, a government official last week suggested that Atwal’s presence was arranged by factions within the Indian government who want to prevent Prime Minister Narendra Modi from getting too cosy with a foreign government they believe is not committed to a united India.