Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said on Wednesday there were “clear indications” that India had violated Canadian sovereignty.
“We had clear and certainly now ever clearer indications that India had violated Canada’s sovereignty,” Trudeau said.
Testifying at Canada’s foreign interference inquiry, Trudeau admitted that when he made the allegation of Indian officials’ involvement in the murder of Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar, all he had was intelligence, not evidence.
“Canada asked India to cooperate. Their (India) ask was for proof. We asked Indian security agencies to investigate further and cooperate with us. Because at that point what we (Canada) had was intelligence,” Trudeau said, reported India Today.
He claimed he brought the intelligence up with Prime Minister Narendra Modi during the G-20 summit.
“He brought up that many people in Canada speak against the Indian government, and he wanted to see these people arrested,” he claimed.
India and Canada’s relations have hit rock bottom after the latter communicated with New Delhi that senior diplomats were “persons of interest” in the probe into Nijjar’s murder.
India reacted angrily, saying the allegations were “preposterous imputations”.
In a strongly worded statement, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) slammed Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Monday, attributing the allegations to his political agenda and vote bank politics.
“We received a diplomatic communication from Canada yesterday suggesting that the Indian High Commissioner and other diplomats are ‘persons of interest’ in a matter related to an investigation in that country. The Government of India strongly rejects these preposterous imputations and ascribes them to the political agenda of the Trudeau Government that is centred around vote bank politics,” said the MEA in the statement.
“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. His Cabinet has included individuals who have openly associated with an extremist and separatist agenda regarding India,” it added.
Later India recalled several of its diplomats and expelled six Canadian diplomats.
Canada has accused Indian officials of being involved in the murder of Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar. India has categorically rejected the claim and has asked for evidence substantiating the grave allegations.
New Delhi maintains that Canada hasn’t provided any evidence proving India’s involvement.
With inputs from AFP