- Union Home Minister Amit Shah strongly rebuffed Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s accusation, posing a pointed question, “What are terrorists wanted in India doing in Canada?”
- The relations between India and Canada came under severe strain following Trudeau’s allegations of the “potential” involvement of Indian agents in the killing of Nijjar in British Columbia.
- India rejected Trudeau’s allegations as “absurd” and “motivated”.
- Last week, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar told the Rajya Sabha that Canada has not shared any specific evidence or inputs with India.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah strongly rebuffed Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s accusation, posing a pointed question, “What are terrorists wanted in India doing in Canada?” Shah, on Thursday, reiterated India’s unwavering stance on the killing of Khalistani separatist Hardeep Singh Nijjar, categorically rejecting Trudeau’s claim of the “potential” involvement of Indian agents in the murder. Shah’s resolute statement follows Trudeau’s assertion a day earlier, where the Canadian Prime Minister stated that publicly making allegations about a possible Indian government connection to Nijjar’s killing was aimed at “putting a chill” on them to prevent a recurrence of similar actions.
“We have completely denied these allegations. The Canadian government should also answer what terrorists wanted in India were doing in Canada,” Shah said.
The relations between India and Canada came under severe strain following Trudeau’s allegations on September 18 of the “potential” involvement of Indian agents in the killing of Nijjar in British Columbia. India had designated Nijjar as a terrorist in 2020.
India rejected Trudeau’s allegations as “absurd” and “motivated”. Days after Trudeau’s allegations in September, India temporarily suspended the issuance of visas to Canadian citizens. It resumed some visa services in Canada last month, more than a month after they were suspended.
In a year-end interview with The Canadian Press news agency on Wednesday, Trudeau said he decided to announce on September 18 because he expected that information would be eventually leaked through the media. The prime minister said the message he delivered in the House of Commons that day was intended as an “extra level of deterrence” to keep Canadians safer.
Trudeau said his public statement came after weeks of “quiet diplomacy” that included raising the allegations with India at the highest levels. Trudeau also said Canada warned India that what it knew would eventually come out and that while Ottawa had managed to keep things “on a diplomatic level” leading up to the G20 summit, it could not control much beyond that.
In the interview, Trudeau said Canada intends to reveal evidence very much in the fashion the US did when “we reach those points in the investigation.” But he noted that US authorities started their investigation into attempted murder earlier.
Last week, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar told the Rajya Sabha that Canada has not shared any specific evidence or inputs with India.
(With inputs from agencies)
