External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal criticized Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s claim of “extortion, murder and violent acts by New Delhi”. file | Photo courtesy: The Hindu
External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal on Thursday (October 17, 2024) described Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau as “autocratic” in the way he handled the disastrous diplomatic fallout. 2023 A Sikh separatist killed in Canada.,
New Delhi maintained its defiant stance towards Ottawa – an approach in sharp contrast to its compliant attitude towards the United States this week, where India has also been accused of directing a separate assassination plot.
Canada has alleged that India arranged the killing of a Sikh separatistIn June 2023, Canadian citizen Hardeep Singh Nijjar was murdered in the parking lot of a Sikh temple in Vancouver. India has described the allegations as “preposterous”.
Mr Jaiswal said on Thursday (October 17, 2024) that he had not seen that evidence.
“Canada has not provided us (India) with any evidence to support the serious allegations made against India and Indian diplomats,” he said in a statement.
“Prime Minister Trudeau alone bears responsibility for the damage this indecent behavior has caused to India-Canada relations.”
But Mr. Trudeau told a parliamentary inquiry on Wednesday (Oct. 16, 2024) that Canada has “clear … indications that India has violated Canada’s sovereignty.”
Canada’s top envoy to New Delhi, Stewart Wheeler, who has been ordered by India to leave by Saturday (October 19, 2024) night, has said Ottawa has received “credible, credible evidence of links between Indian government agents and the killing of a Provided irrefutable evidence.” Canadian citizen”.
tit for tat
Nijjar – who moved to Canada in 1997 and became a citizen in 2015 – had advocated for a separate Sikh state from India, known as Khalistan.
He was wanted by Indian authorities for alleged terrorism and conspiracy to commit murder. Four Indian nationals have been arrested in connection with Nijjar’s murder.
Last year, the government briefly suspended visas for Canadians and this week the two countries expelled each other’s ambassadors.
New Delhi’s reaction to Washington has been very different, with the US State Department on Wednesday (October 16, 2024) saying India had informed it that an intelligence operative accused of directing an assassination plot on US soil is now in government service. Not there.
US prosecutors last November charged an Indian national with a failed attempt to murder a lawyer from a separate Sikh homeland in New York.
The indictment describes an “Indian government employee”, who was not publicly named, who recruited the hitman and remotely directed the assassination plot, including arranging for the delivery of $15,000 in cash. Was.
An Indian daily quoted an unnamed US official as saying on Monday (October 14, 2024) that India not only removed but also arrested the employee on “local charges”.
The State Department has not confirmed the arrest.
published – October 17, 2024 11:07 am IST