New Delhi: Canada denied reports linking Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar and National Security Adviser Ajit Doval to the killing of Sikh separatist Hardeep Singh Nijjar and other violence in the country, labelling them as “speculative and inaccurate” Friday.
“The Government of Canada has not stated, nor is it aware of evidence, linking Prime Minister Modi, Minister Jaishankar, or NSA Doval to the serious criminal activity within Canada. Any suggestion to the contrary is both speculative and inaccurate,” Nathalie G. Drouin, the National Security and Intelligence Advisor (NSIA) of Canada said in a statement.
The statement by Drouin comes two days after the Canadian newspaper The Globe and Mail citing unnamed sources reported that Doval and Jaishankar were kept in the loop of the alleged operations by the Indian government in Canada, which was headed by Union Home Minister Amit Shah. The report added that Canadian security intelligence assumed that Modi was aware of the alleged operations due to three senior officials being involved.
The Canadian newspaper offered no evidence in its report, apart from the assumption of the unnamed security official.
The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) Wednesday had said that the “ludicrous statements” made to The Globe and Mail “should be dismissed with the contempt they deserve”. Randhir Jaiswal, the spokesperson for the MEA had added that “smear campaigns like this only further damage our already strained ties”.
Drouin and Deputy Foreign Minister David Morrison in the past have leaked information regarding the Canadian investigation into the killing of Nijjar—designated a terrorist in India—as well as other violence in the country to the American newspaper The Washington Post last month, as a part of Ottawa’s media strategy on the issue.
Morrison confirmed to The Post that Shah had authorised the purported operation against Sikh separatists.
India has rejected any involvement in the killing of Nijjar, and has called the references made against Shah as “absurd and baseless”.
On 1 November, 2024, the MEA summoned representatives from the Canadian High Commission in New Delhi and submitted a diplomatic note on claims made by Morrison and the American newspaper against Shah.
“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 the 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,” said Jaiswal on 2 November on the allegations raised against Shah.
Nijjar was gunned down outside a gurdwara in Surrey, British Columbia in June 2023. In September of that year, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau publicly alleged links between Indian government officials and the killing of Nijjar. A claim rejected by India as “absurd and motivated”.
In October 2024 the diplomatic row between the two countries escalated following a request from Ottawa to waive the diplomatic immunity of six Indian diplomats, including the then High Commissioner Sanjay Kumar Verma. New Delhi rejected the request and withdrew the six diplomats.
India expelled six Canadian diplomats including the acting high commissioner Stewart Wheeler and deputy high commissioner Patrick Hebert from the country.
(Edited by Zinnia Ray Chaudhuri)
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