The Canadian Prime Minister was scheduled to travel home on Sunday following the G20 conference in Delhi, but a mechanical problem held him in India overnight.
According to Canadian sources, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his whole team were forced to remain an additional day in New Delhi for the G20 meeting when his plane broke down.
On Friday, Trudeau landed in India for a conference of the leaders of the world’s 20 largest economies.
He was scheduled to return to the United States on Sunday after laying a wreath at a memorial to Indian freedom icon Mahatma Gandhi. Still, a technical failure held him in India overnight.
The Canadian High Commission in New Delhi pointed AFP to a statement from Trudeau’s office stating that the Canadian Air Force, which runs the jet, notified the delegation that it was “having technical difficulties.”
“Because these issues will not be resolved overnight, our delegation will remain in India until alternative arrangements can be made,” it added.
CTV in Canada identified the jet as an Airbus and said it was unclear when it would be able to return, adding that it “isn’t the first time” it has encountered issues.
Trudeau’s attendance at the G20 meeting was more low-key than that of some of his G7 contemporaries, and it occurred amid tensions between his government and host India over Ottawa’s treatment of right-wing Sikh separatists.
Ottawa, according to New Delhi, is turning a blind eye to the actions of extremist Sikh nationalists seeking a separate Sikh homeland in northern India.
Trudeau is hardly the first international figure who has had troubles with an airplane in recent months. Annalena Baerbock, Germany’s foreign minister, was forced to cancel a trip to Oceania in August when her government jet was forced to return to Abu Dhabi twice.
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In June, the New Zealand defence force jet transporting the country’s prime minister, Chris Hipkins, to China was deemed untrustworthy, prompting a second plane to fly in reserve. Former Prime Ministers Dame Jacinda Ardern and Sir John Key have previously been stranded on international flights after RNZAF Boeing 757s and Hercules planes broke down.
