Convicted Khalistani militant photographed with Canadian PM’s wife, Sophie Trudeau

A convicted former member of an illegal Sikh separatist group, Jaspal Atwal was invited to the dinner with Canadian Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau. He was spotted at a formal event hosted by the Canadian High Commissioner at Delhi.

The invitation, which was extended by Canada's High Commissioner to India, is being rescinded after CBC News asked the Prime Minister's Office about it.

"I can confirm that the High Commission is in the process of rescinding Mr Atwal's invitation," said PMO spokeswoman Eleanore Catenaro in an email to CBC News.

Photos obtained by the CBC News show Atwal posing for pictures with Trudeau's wife, Sophie, and Liberal cabinet minister Amarjeet Sohi at an event with the Indian film industry in Mumbai on Tuesday.

His appearance at an official tour event could prove highly embarrassing for Trudeau, who has been at pains during his Indian trip to assure his hosts that Canada supports a united India and rejects violent extremism.

Atwal, who did not travel to India with the Trudeaus' entourage, was convicted of the attempted murder of an Indian cabinet minister, Malkiat Singh Sidhu, on Vancouver Island in 1986.

At the time, he was a member of the International Sikh Youth Federation, banned as a terrorist group in Canada, the U.K., the U.S. and India.

He's also been convicted in an automobile fraud case and was charged, but not convicted, in a 1985 near-fatal attack on Ujjal Dosanjh, an opponent of the Sikh separatist movement who later became premier of British Columbia, CBC news also reported.

OneIndia News