Alternate plane on its way to pick up Canadian PM, delegation stranded in Delhi

New Delhi: Following a technical issue with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's flight, a replacement aircraft is set to arrive in India on Monday night to fly the PM and his delegation back to their country. 

On Sunday night, the Canadian Prime Minister's special aircraft suffered a technical glitch, shortly before his departure from New Delhi after the G20 Summit. 

An official said that a team of engineers in coordination with Canadian aircraft staff is trying to resolve the technical glitch. Meanwhile, PM staff has called a second aircraft that is scheduled to land at Delhi airport by 11 pm. 
However, it is still unclear if the entire delegation will leave on the alternate plane or if separate arrangements will be made. 

"Upon our departure for the airport, we were made aware by the Canadian Armed Forces that CFC001 was experiencing technical issues,” the Prime Minister’s office confirmed in a statement. 

“These issues are not fixable overnight, our delegation will be staying in India until alternate arrangements are made,” the statement added. 

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Friday arrived in India to attend the G20 Summit. 
Trudeau at the conclusion of the two-day G20 Leaders' Summit emphasized that India is an important partner for Canada and we will continue to work towards it. 

"We recognize India as an extraordinarily important economy in the world and an important partner for Canada on everything, from fighting climate change to creating growth and prosperity for citizens. There is always a lot of work to do and we will continue to do it," Trudeau said. 

Prior to their discussion, the world leaders, including Canadian Prime Minister Trudeau paid a visit to Rajghat to pay homage to Mahatma Gandhi on Sunday morning. 

PM Modi on Saturday welcomed Trudeau along with his counterparts from Bangladesh, Australia, Canada and Mauritius among others at the Bharat Mandapam venue at Pragati Maidan where India is hosting the long G20 Summit. The two leaders shook hands and warmly greeted each other.

Earlier on Sunday, Trudeau highlighted the issue of Khalistani protests. Trudeau said that he had many conversations with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the issue of Khalistan extremism and "foreign interference”, and Ottawa will always defend freedom of expression, and at the same time will always be there to prevent violence.

He further emphasized that the “actions of the few” do not represent the entire community or Canada. The Canadian PM recently called India a key partner in the promotion of shared values of democracy. (ANI)