Govt slams Canada for calling Indian HC person of interest in Nijjar case | India News

The already turbulent India-Canada relations took a dramatic turn Monday with Canada effectively accusing Indian high commissioner Sanjay Verma and other Indian diplomats of being linked to the killing of Khalistan separatist Hardeep Singh Nijjar. In a scathing response, the Indian government, while rejecting the “ludicrous” allegations, threatened action against the Canadian mission here for serving the “political agenda” of the Justin Trudeau government.
Acknowledging a diplomatic communication from Canada suggesting that Verma and other diplomats are persons of interest in “a matter related to an investigation in that country”, India strongly rejected the “preposterous” imputations and ascribed them to Trudeau’s vote bank politics.
While reiterating that the Canadian government had not shared a shred of evidence to back Trudeau’s allegations last year about Indian involvement in the Nijjar case, the government said in a lengthy and scathing response that the latest assertions, which followed several rounds of exchanges between the 2 sides, were also not backed by facts.
“This leaves little doubt that on the pretext of an investigation, there is a deliberate strategy of smearing India for political gains. Prime Minister Trudeau’s hostility to India has long been in evidence. In 2018, his visit to India, which was aimed at currying favour with a vote bank, rebounded to his discomfort,” said the Indian government.
“His Cabinet has included individuals who have openly associated with an extremist and separatist agenda regarding India. His naked interference in Indian internal politics in December 2020 showed how far he was willing to go in this regard,” it added, while recalling the Trudeau government’s support to the farmers’ protests in Delhi in 2020.
Canada’s diplomatic communication followed a meeting last week between Trudeau and PM Narendra Modi in Laos after which the Canadian PM had said there were real issues between the 2 countries that needed to be addressed. Indian government sources had responded by saying that there was no substantive engagement between the leaders and that bilateral ties can only be repaired if Canada takes verifiable action against Khalistan separatists.
Taking cognisance of the activities of the Canadian High Commission in India that serve the “political agenda” of the Trudeau government, the government said this had led to the implementation of the principle of reciprocity in regard to diplomatic representation. India had last year forced Canada to withdraw 41 Canadian diplomats alleging they were involved in anti-India activities. “India now reserves the right to take further steps in response to these latest efforts of the Canadian Government to concoct allegations against Indian diplomats,” said the government.
In its response, India also said that under criticism for turning a blind eye to foreign interference in Canadian politics, the Trudeau government has deliberately brought in India in an attempt to mitigate the damage.
“This latest development targeting Indian diplomats is now the next step in that direction. It is no coincidence that it takes place as Prime Minister Trudeau is to depose before a Commission on foreign interference,” said the government, adding the latest allegations also serve the anti-India separatist agenda that the Trudeau Government has constantly pandered to for narrow political gains.
“To that end, the Trudeau Government has consciously provided space to violent extremists and terrorists to harass, threaten and intimidate Indian diplomats and community leaders in Canada. This has included death threats to them and to Indian leaders. All these activities have been justified in the name of freedom of speech,” said the government.
India also said some individuals who have entered Canada illegally have been fast-tracked for citizenship, while recalling that extradition requests from India in respect of terrorists and organized crime leaders living in Canada had been disregarded. It said Verma is India’s senior most serving diplomat with a distinguished career spanning 36 years and has been ambassador in Japan and Sudan, and also served in Italy, Turkiye, Vietnam and China.
The aspersions cast on him by the Government of Canada are ludicrous and deserve to be treated with contempt, said the government.