The office of Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau vehemently denied the allegation that his plane was "full of cocaine" when he traveled to India this month for the G20 summit.
Trudeau's office dismissed the unsubstantiated claim made by a retired Indian diplomat during an on-air discussion as "absolutely false" and "a troubling example of how disinformation can make its way into media reporting" in a statement released on Wednesday.
Trudeau Denies Being on Plane Full of Cocaine
The bizarre allegation, which has been extensively publicized in the Indian media, comes amid a heated diplomatic dispute between the two nations.
Canada and India each expelled one of the other's most senior diplomats after Trudeau stated that there were "credible allegations" of Indian state involvement in the death of a Canadian Sikh leader.
Deepak Vohra, the former Indian ambassador to Sudan, stated on Monday that there were "credible rumors" that "sniffer dogs found cocaine on his plane" and that Trudeau "did not leave his room for two days."
Following the assassination of Sikh separatist leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar, diplomatic relations between India and Canada were at one of their lowest points in decades when these remarks were made.
The crisis between New Delhi and Ottawa began a week ago when Prime Minister Justin Trudeau accused the Indian government of complicity in the murder of a Canadian citizen.
Nijjar was murdered on June 18 in Vancouver by two masked individuals who discharged between 30 and 50 bullets at him.
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Canada-India Diplomatic Tensions
Canadian officials say human and signals intelligence, as well as communications involving Indian officials in Canada, support their claims regarding the murder, according to The Independent.
Ottawa expelled a senior diplomat working for Indian intelligence, while India - which labeled Nijjar a "terrorist" in 2020 - angrily rejected the allegation as "absurd," expelled the head of Canadian intelligence in India, issued travel warnings, ceased issuing visas for Canadians, and ordered Canada to reduce its diplomatic presence in India.
Pictures of Justin Trudeau in public during his trip to India refute the diplomat's allegation that the Canadian prime minister stayed in his hotel room for two days after flying on a "cocaine-filled" plane.
Trudeau was photographed the following day with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who greeted him with a handshake upon his arrival at Bharat Mandapam, where the G20 conference was being conducted.
The following day, as per Daily Mail, he was photographed depositing a wreath at Raj Ghat alongside Modi and Indonesia's President Joko Widodo.
On September 12, Trudeau was captured at the end of his trip as he departed New Delhi. Due to weather conditions and technical concerns with his military aircraft, his departure was delayed.
