By Krishn Kaushik
NEW DELHI (Reuters) -India’s foreign ministry said on Thursday that despite requests from New Delhi, Canada had not taken any action against members of a gang that Canadian police have accused of being linked to Indian government agents in the 2023 murder of a Sikh separatist leader, that has created a rupture in ties.
“This is a contradiction in terms, which we don’t understand,” Randhir Jaiswal, spokesperson for India’s foreign ministry said, calling it “strange”.
He said that there were 26 Indian extradition requests pending with Canada over the last decade or more, which include members of the Lawrence Bishnoi gang, and others.
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police had accused Indian government agents of being linked to the Lawrence Bishnoi gang in the murder of Hardeep Singh Nijjar near Vancouver. The case is at the heart of a fraying of diplomatic ties between India and Canada.
Earlier this week, both countries kicked out six diplomats each of the other side in tit-for-tat moves, over Ottawa’s allegations that New Delhi was targeting Indian dissidents on Canadian soil.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said on Wednesday that India had made a “horrific mistake” by thinking it could interfere aggressively in Canada’s safety and sovereignty.
India, in response said that Trudeau had only confirmed its stand that Canada had not provided any evidence to support its allegations.
During a weekly press conference, Jaiswal said on Thursday, “We have shared security related information with the Canadian government regarding gang members including those of Lawrence Bishnoi gang, and requested them to arrest them or take due action as per law.”
He said Canada has not taken any action, calling it “very serious”.
“We find it really strange,” he said, adding that the RCMP was blaming India for the crimes committed by these people “who we asked to be deported, on whom we asked that action be taken.”
Bishnoi is a 31-year-old leader of what India’s top investigative agency calls a “terror-crime syndicate” which he operates from different prisons in India.
The group, according to India’s National Investigation Agency, has trans-national reach, including a presence in Canada.
While India has denied all Canadian allegations, it is working with the U.S., which also mentioned last year that an Indian official was involved in an unsuccessful murder plot of another Sikh separatist leader in New York.
Jaiswal confirmed on Thursday that an official who was named in the American indictment about the case was no longer employed by the Indian government.
After meeting members of the Indian government committee investigating the case, who were on a visit to the U.S., the State Department said on Wednesday that Washington was satisfied with India’s cooperation in the probe into the foiled murder plot.
(Reporting by Krishn Kaushik, writing by Krishn Kauhsik and Shilpa Jamkhandikar; editing by Sudipto Ganguly and Bernadette Baum)