Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, late Monday, doubled down on accusations that India was using “clandestine information-gathering techniques, coercive behavior targeting South Asian Canadians” and assassinating a Canadian citizen in his country. The two countries this week exchanged a second round of tit-for-tat expulsion of diplomats as the row over the killing of Hardeep Singh Nijjar, a Canadian who supported a Sikh homeland called Khalistan, escalated.
Indian Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar summoned Canada’s ambassador. He declared the country a “state sponsor of terrorism” after Ottawa named several Indian diplomats as “persons of interest” in a probe into Nijjar’s murder. The MEA said the country would take further steps if Ottawa did not cooperate with investigators to shed light on the case.
The MEA statement added that the government was disturbed by Trudeau’s “reckless and provocative remarks” in a press conference. It accused him of seeking to curry favor with a vote bank and called on the government to ensure that the case is “fully investigated and brought to a just conclusion.”
“The RCMP (Royal Canadian Mounted Police) has evidence that India has used its diplomats in Canada to collect through questionable and illegal means information about Canadian citizens and share it with criminal organizations who then take violent actions, including murders,” the MEA statement said. “This is a clear violation of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations and is unacceptable.”
Earlier, Canada’s top diplomat in New Delhi demanded that the country’s ambassador and four other officials be withdrawn by Saturday after it declared them persons of interest in the case of the killing of a Sikh separatist leader last year. The move came after a meeting between the two countries’ top diplomats, which clearly showed escalating tensions between the nations.
Canada’s decision to call in the RCMP was not taken lightly and was “made only after the RCMP provided ample, clear and concrete evidence of these individuals’ involvement in the murder of Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar on Canadian soil,” Trudeau’s spokeswoman Chantal Gagnon told reporters.
It was the latest in a series of dramatic moves that have pushed Canada-India relations to their lowest point since the two countries established diplomatic ties in 1921. Their trade in goods was $11.9 billion in 2022.
The two countries also have a longstanding security relationship that has been strained recently over claims by Ottawa that India is spying on its embassy staff and attempting to infiltrate its intelligence services. India denies such allegations and says they are part of a campaign to influence Indians’ votes in the upcoming elections.
While both sides blame the other for the current row, it takes time to see a quick resolution. It is a shame that political expediency and short-term votes are hurting such a critical strategic partner at a time when the geopolitical interests of both sides are aligning.
