NEW DELHI: Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau met India’s corporate titans on Tuesday as he pursued a tour of the country marred by reports he has been snubbed by political leaders.

Trudeau addressed a business conference in Mumbai on Tuesday morning, attended by leaders from the Tata conglomerate, IT giants Infosys and pharmaceutical major Jubilant Life Sciences.

But Indian and Canadian media said Prime Minister Narendra Modi had sidestepped his Canadian counterpart over the Trudeau administration’s perceived support for Sikh separatists and dealings with Sikh groups in Canada.

Canada is home to roughly half a million Sikhs and a significant number appear to back a decades-long Sikh campaign in East Punjab for an independent homeland of Khalistan.

Read: Is Justin Trudeau being cold-shouldered by PM Modi during his first state visit to India?

Justin Trudeau was received by a junior minister when he arrived at New Delhi airport on Saturday and by district officials when he visited the Taj Mahal in Agra the next day.

Modi often meets leading heads of government at the airport with bear hugs and cheerful photo-ops.

However, he was again missing when Trudeau visited Modi’s home state of Gujarat on Monday.

The social media-savvy Modi, who has 40.4 million Twitter followers, has also yet to tweet a welcome message to Trudeau as he does customarily for other leaders.

The premier shared a photo of himself meeting Iranian President Hassan Rouhani the same day that Trudeau landed.

“The Khalistan issue, which has kept India-Canada ties on ice through three decades from 1980, has resurfaced, taking away much of the warmth” during Trudeau’s visit, the Hindu daily said.

An Indian government source denied there was a snub in comments reported by several media outlets.

Published in Dawn, February 21st, 2018