New Delhi, Oct 15 (UNI) India on Tuesday trashed Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s press conference as the “same old Trudeau saying the same old things for the same old reasons”, and rejected Ottawa’s claim of having presented “credible evidence” to India of alleged involvement in the killing of Indo-Canadian Khalistani activist Hardeep Singh Nijjar last year.
Sources said: “ The central assertion from all Canadian officials is that credible evidence has been presented to India. This was also repeated by their Cd’A to the press (in New Delhi on Monday evening). This is simply not true.
“From the very beginning, the Canadian approach has been to make vague accusations and put the burden of denial on India,” the sources said.
“At the RCMP press briefing, assertions were made about connections of certain individuals to India. In no case were any specifics provided. There was also talk about holding people accountable. But it was never made clear who and for what,” the sources said.
They said that “It is absurd that after intensively engaging the (Indian) High Commissioner over the last year, the Canadian government now chooses to target him”, referring to High Commissioner Sanjay Kumar Verma.
On Monday, in a tit-for-tat move, India announced it was expelling six Canadian diplomats, including the Acting and Deputy High Commissioners, even as it withdrew its own High Commissioner and five other diplomats from Ottawa, as the frosty bilateral ties sunk to its lowest depths over the killing of Indo-Canadian Nijjar in British Columbia last year.
The Canadian diplomats have been asked to leave India by or before 11:59 PM on Saturday, October 19, 2024.
India also decided to withdraw its High Commissioner in Ottawa Sanjay Kumar Verma. The Canadian Charge d’Affaires Stewart Ross Wheeler was summoned by Secretary (East) Dammu Ravi in the evening at South Block, and informed that the “baseless targeting” of the Indian High Commissioner and other diplomats and officials in Canada was completely unacceptable.
It was underlined that in an atmosphere of extremism and violence, the Trudeau Government’s actions endangered the safety of the Indian diplomats. India also conveyed that it has “no faith” in the current Canadian Government’s commitment to ensure their security.
“It was also conveyed that India reserves the right to take further steps in response to the Trudeau Government’s support for extremism, violence and separatism against India.”
The drastic moves came in the wake of a diplomatic communication from Canada on Sunday “suggesting that the Indian High Commissioner and other diplomats are ‘persons of interest’” in the probe related to the killing of Nijjar.
India strongly rejected these preposterous imputations and ascribed them to the political agenda of the Trudeau Government that is centered around vote bank politics, a statement said.
Meanwhile the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) Commissioner Mike Duheme, speaking at a news conference on Monday in Ottawa about “allegations of violent criminal activity linked to agents of the Indian government”, said that among other things, “investigations have revealed that Indian diplomats and consular officials based in Canada leveraged their official position to engage in clandestine activities”.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, continuing his tirade against India amidst the diplomatic fallout, said on Monday that the Indian government has made a “fundamental error” as he accused it of supporting a “campaign of violence” against Canadians on Canadian soil.
Speaking to reporters, Trudeau said: “I think it is obvious that the government of India made a fundamental error in thinking that they could engage in supporting criminal activity against Canadians, here on Canadian soil.
“Whether it be murders or extortion or other violent acts, it is absolutely unacceptable,” Trudeau said during a Thanksgiving Monday news conference.
“No country, particularly not a democracy that upholds the rule of law, can accept this fundamental violation of its sovereignty.”
In a statement, Trudeau said “the RCMP has clear and compelling evidence that agents of the Government of India have engaged in, and continue to engage in, activities that pose a significant threat to public safety. This includes clandestine information gathering techniques, coercive behaviour targeting South Asian Canadians, and involvement in over a dozen threatening and violent acts, including murder. This is unacceptable….”
“Once again, we call on the Government of India to co-operate with us on this investigation – to put an end to its inaction and misleading rhetoric; to recognize the credibility and severity of the evidence and information we have shared so far; and to reiterate, in no uncertain terms, that its position on extrajudicial operations abroad will henceforth be unequivocally aligned with international law.”
Speaking at the same news conference as Trudeau, Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly said Canada had to take steps because “it is sitting diplomats that were involved in violent incidents.”
Monday’s swift expulsions are just the latest deterioration in the India-Canada relationship. Following Trudeau’s announcement last fall in the Nijjar case, Canada pulled out more than 40 diplomats from India in October 2023 after New Delhi asked Ottawa to reduce its diplomatic presence.
