CHANDIGARH: Indian Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh onWednesday met Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and raised the issueof Khalistan and its funding.

“I raised the issue of Khalistan as it’s the primary issue, as there ismoney coming in from various countries including Canada,” said Singh.However there was no warm response from the Canadian PM over the issue ofthe funding or support to Khalistan movement supported from Canada.

In the meeting that took place in Amritsar, both the leaders also discussedthe strong bond that exists between the two places, largely due to aninfluential Punjabi community settled in the western nation.

Besides the Trudeau-Amarinder meeting, which remained uncertain till Mondayevening, the other highlight was the Chief Minister meeting CanadianDefence Minister Harjit Singh Sajjan, who was born in Punjab`s Hoshiarpurdistrict and is the first Sikh to handle the defence portfolio of a westerncountry.

Amarinder had refused to meet the Canadian Defence Minister in April 2017during the latter`s visit to the state and even dubbed him and otherministers of Punjab-origin in the Trudeau government as ‘Khalistanisympathisers’.

On Wednesday, the Chief Minister not only met Sajjan but also shook handswith him and both leaders smiled at each other.

The Amarinder Singh government went all out to accord a red carpet welcometo Trudeau and his entourage, including his wife and children, during theirfour hour trip to the Sikh holy city of Amritsar.

Trudeau, who is on a week-long visit to India, arrived in Amritsar fromMumbai on Wednesday morning. He and his family offered prayers at theGolden Temple complex, at the holiest of Sikh shrines in the ‘HarmandirSahib’.