New Delhi: India Friday handed over a diplomatic note to a Canadian representative, protesting in the strongest terms “absurd and baseless claims” made against Union Home Minister Amit Shah, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) has said.
“It was conveyed in the note that the Government of India protests in the strongest terms to the absurd and baseless references made to the Union Home Minister of India before the Committee by Deputy Minister David Morrison,” MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said at a press briefing Saturday.
Jaiswal added: “In fact, the revelation that high Canadian officials deliberately leaked unfounded insinuations to the international media as part of a conscious strategy to discredit India and influence other nations only confirms the view Government of India has long held about the current Canadian Government’s political agenda and behavioural pattern. Such irresponsible actions will have serious consequences for bilateral ties.”
The Canadian government had alleged during a House of Commons standing committee hearing Tuesday that Shah authorised surveillance and killings of Sikh separatists in the North American country.
Canada’s Deputy Foreign Affairs Minister David Morrison revealed before the standing committee that he was the source for the report by The Washington Post earlier in October that first named Shah as the senior government official suspected to be behind the attacks against Sikh separatists in Canada. Shah’s name was not publicly identified by the Canadian government at any previous occasion, before it first appeared in The Post report.
Canada requested India to waive diplomatic immunity for six of its diplomats including the then high commissioner Sanjay Kumar Verma, which led to a diplomatic escalation. New Delhi withdrew all six diplomats and expelled six Canadian diplomats including acting high commissioner Stewart Wheeler and deputy high commissioner Patrick Hebert.
Days before the expulsion, Canadian National Security and Intelligence Adviser Nathalie Drouin along with Morrison and deputy commissioner of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police Mark Flynn had met with India’s National Security Adviser Ajit Doval in Singapore on 12 October.
At the meeting the three Canadian officials briefed Doval of the evidence Ottawa has gathered of the alleged links between Indian government and violence in Canada, including murder, assassination plots and extortion.
India maintains that not a “shred” of evidence was shared with Doval.
A day after the meeting, Drouin and Morrison briefed the reporters of The Washington Post, as a part of their media strategy on the issue.
The India-Canada diplomatic chill began after Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau alleged last September that Indian officials had links to the killing of Hardeep Singh Nijjar–a designated terrorist in India.
Nijjar was killed outside a gurdwara in June 2023. Four Indians have been arrested and charged for the killing by Canadian authorities.
However, no evidence of links between Indian officials and the killing has been made public yet, due to the nature of Canadian judicial processes.
Also Read: Asked India to rein in Lawrence Bishnoi, Canadian PM’s security adviser tells house panel
Indian diplomats ‘harassed’
The MEA Saturday also revealed that it has protested the audio and video surveillance of some Indian consular officials by Canadian authorities.
India further claimed that these actions are a part of an effort to intimidate and harass Indian consular officials by the Canadian government.
“Some of our consular officials were recently informed by the Canadian government that they have been and continue to be under audio and video surveillance. Their communications have also been intercepted. We have formally protested to the Canadian Government as we deem these actions to be a flagrant violation of relevant diplomatic and consular conventions,” said Jaiswal at the MEA briefing.
The MEA spokesperson added: “By citing technicalities, the Canadian Government cannot justify the fact that it is indulging in harassment and intimidation. Our diplomatic and consular personnel are already functioning in an environment of extremism and violence. This action of the Canadian Government aggravates the situation and is incompatible with established diplomatic norms and practices.”
Also Read: US and allies boast of killing whomever they want, yet lecture India on morality
Can anybody explain what is happening in canada?