NEW DELHI, Sept 12, 2023 (BSS/AFP) - Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau 
belatedly left India Tuesday after an aircraft breakdown forced a two-day 
extension of his rocky visit to New Delhi for the G20 summit.

Trudeau arrived in India for the meeting of the leaders of 20 leading 
economies on Friday and was due to return home Sunday after laying a wreath 
at a memorial to Indian independence leader Mahatma Gandhi.

However, a mechanical fault detected during pre-flight checks resulted in the 
grounding of his plane by the Canadian Armed Forces and he was stranded along 
with his entire delegation.

Air traffic tracker Flightradar24 showed Royal Canada Air Force plane CFC01 
taking off from Delhi airport shortly after 1 pm local time (0730 GMT).

Trudeau's press secretary Mohammad Hussain confirmed to AFP that the Canadian 
G20 delegation was aboard the flight.

Canadian broadcaster CTV said the Airbus CC-150 had a history of operational 
issues. 

Since Trudeau did not have any further diplomatic engagements with the Indian 
government, he stayed at his hotel along with his 16-year-old son Xavier, 
media reports said.

Trudeau's presence at the G20 summit was more muted than some of his G7 
counterparts and came against a backdrop of tensions between his government 
and host India over Ottawa's handling of right-wing Sikh separatists.

New Delhi accuses Ottawa of turning a blind eye to the activities of radical 
Sikh nationalists who seek a separate Sikh homeland in northern India.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed "strong concerns about 
continuing anti-India activities of extremist elements in Canada" during a 
meeting with Trudeau, according to an Indian government statement.

Canada also recently suspended negotiations for a free trade agreement with 
India.

Trudeau later told media that Canada would always defend "freedom of 
expression, freedom of conscience and freedom of peaceful protest" while 
acting against hatred.