Former B.C. premier Ujjal Dosanjh says he is "flabbergasted" that a Canadian Sikh convicted in the attempted murder of a former Punjabi cabinet minister was invited to an event with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his wife in India this week.

"I was shocked at the incompetence it must have taken for the PMO or the RCMP or the High Commission to actually accomplish this—that you have a convicted attempted assassin…who is now hobnobbing with the elite of Canadian politics," Dosanjh said.

On Wednesday, photos emerged of Jaspal Atwal standing with Sophie Gregoire Trudeau at an event with the Mumbai film industry. A separate photo shows Atwal meeting Canadian Infrastructure Minister Amarjeet Sohi.

In 1986, Atwal and three others were involved in an attempt to assassinate Malkiat Singh Sidhu as the former Indian minister visited family on Vancouver Island. Atwal was a member of International Sikh Youth Federation at the time, a group the Canadian government has since labelled a terrorist organization.

"What is India to make of it and what are Canadians to make of it? I just have no words," Dosanjh told CTV News Channel Thursday. Atwal was also charged -- but not convicted -- in connection with a brutal assault on Dosanjh in 1985.

"I was attacked in the parking lot of my law office by him with an iron bar with a bolt at the end of it and he left me with injuries that required 84 stitches to my head and several stitches to one of my hands," Dosanjh alleged.

Atwal was charged in connection with that incident, but then acquitted.

The attempted murderer also received an invitation from Canada's high commissioner to India to attend a dinner with the prime minister. The invitation, which has since been rescinded, was facilitated by Surrey MP Randeep Sarai, who has since released a statement taking full responsibility.

"I alone facilitated his request to attend this important event. I should have exercised better judgement, and I take full responsibility for my actions," Sarai's statement read.

"I apologize without reservation for my role in this situation, which has become an unfortunate distraction from the work, achievements and objectives of the Prime Minister and his team during this historic trip to India."

Dosanjh said Atwal’s presence at Tuesday’s event was not only a security concern, but marred Trudeau's attempts to address Indian leaders' concerns about the rise of Sikh separatist ideology in Canada.

Earlier this week, Trudeau met with the chief minister of Punjab, Amarinder Singh, and reiterated that his government is against secessionism and supports a united India.

"We will always stand against violent extremism, but we understand that diversity of views is one of the great strengths of Canada," Trudeau said. "I was able to make that very clear to him."

Political experts, however, say the Atwal blunder could compromise that message.

"Only yesterday you were trying to say 'I have no links' and then you have in the midst of the delegation a person closely linked and charged with terrorist crimes," said Shinder Purewal, a political science professor at Kwantlen Polytechnic University.

Purewal said "the prime minister hasn't achieved anything" through his attempts appease India's concerns about secessionism and should have focused his trip on international issues that could benefit both nations instead.

"When you're visiting a country, we should focus on trade, what is common between our countries—there's a lot of things," he said. "Focus on those issues—larger, bigger issues than the domestic politics of India and the domestic politics of the Liberal Party for the 2019 election."

The Canadian delegation's week-long trip to India comes amid rising tensions between the two countries over the issue of possible Sikh extremism in some Canadian communities. Those concerns have been exacerbated by Trudeau's appearance at some Sikh events where extremists were also reportedly present.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has raised concerns about secessionism with the Canadian prime minister on several occasions, and the issue is expected to come up again when the two leaders meet in Delhi Friday.

With files from The Canadian Press and CTV Vancouver's Maria Weisgarber