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OTTAWA — Justin Trudeau’s visit to the sub-continent earlier this year has become a political punch-line, even among Liberals.

“India? We didn’t go to India,” is the response when the subject is raised internally.

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But Trudeau did — and there were substantive reasons why the visit went so badly.

Trudeau was snubbed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, because it was felt he was soft on the Khalistan movement that wants to establish an independent Sikh homeland in the Punjab region.

What is more likely is that Trudeau is soft on whatever policy might appeal to a key voting block — Canada’s politically-active Sikh community. Punjab, where Sikhs make up a majority, is the largest source of Indian migrants to Canada and Trudeau has boasted about having more Sikhs in his cabinet than Modi.

The report showed that there was a 39 per cent increase in refugee claims by mid-2018, compared to the same period a year earlier

A refugee claims analysis report for the first six months of this year compiled by the Intelligence and Analysis Section of the Canada Border Services Agency, and obtained by the National Post, offers some clues as to why Modi’s government is at odds with Trudeau.