New Delhi: With the Indian general elections completed, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau sees an opportunity to engage with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on “serious issues around national security”, he said Tuesday.
Speaking to the Canadian media, Trudeau said, “Now that he’s (Modi) through his election, I think there is an opportunity for us to exchange, including on some very serious issues around national security and keeping Canadians safe and the rule of law, that we will be engaging in.”
The Canadian leader’s comments were made public on the anniversary of the killing of Sikh separatist Hardeep Singh Nijjar, designated a terrorist by India. The Canadian House of Commons observed a moment of silence for Nijjar Tuesday.
Trudeau in September 2023 had said authorities were investigating “credible allegations” of links between agents of the Government of India and the killing of Nijjar.
Ties between the two countries have remained strained since Trudeau’s comments, which India dismissed as “absurd and motivated”. The resulting diplomatic row saw the naming and expulsion of intelligence officials by both sides and the withdrawal of 41 Canadian diplomats from India in October last year.
The two prime ministers briefly interacted on the sidelines of the G7 Leaders’ Summit held in Italy last week. This was the first meeting between the two leaders since Trudeau’s allegations.
Modi, who posted a picture of the brief interaction on social media platform X, simply said in the post that he “met Canadian PM @JustinTrudeau at the G7 Summit”.
Met Canadian PM @JustinTrudeau at the G7 Summit. pic.twitter.com/e67ajADDWi
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) June 14, 2024
Speaking to reporters a day after the meeting, the Canadian leader said the brief interaction with Modi “was a commitment to work together in coming times to deal with some very important issues”. He did not elaborate further.
When quizzed Tuesday on whether there was any improvement in cooperation between Indian and Canadian authorities on the Nijjar probe, Trudeau said, “There is work ongoing very much.”
The Indian high commissioner to Canada, Sanjay Kumar Verma, had told ThePrint earlier this month that Canada had not shared “any specific or relevant information” for a probe by Indian authorities into the allegations made by Trudeau.
Four Indians have been arrested and charged with the killing of Nijjar by Canadian authorities. None has reached out to the Indian High Commission for legal assistance or consular access, as reported by ThePrint earlier.
Also read: Canada minister denies report of India delaying permission for Trudeau’s plane to land in Amritsar
Canadian Parliament observes moment of silence for Nijjar
The same day as the interview with Trudeau was published, the Canadian House of Commons observed a moment of silence for Nijjar.
“Colleagues, following discussions amongst representatives of all parties in the House, I understand that there is an agreement to observe a moment of silence in memory of Hardeep Singh Nijjar, assassinated in Surrey, British Columbia, one year ago today,” said Greg Fergus, Speaker of the House of Commons.
Nijjar, 46, was shot dead by assailants outside a gurdwara in Surrey on 18 June, 2023. From Jalandhar’s Phillaur tehsil, he moved to Canada in 1997. He started as a plumber and soon rose to become the president of Surrey’s Guru Nanak Sikh Gurdwara Sahib, as reported by ThePrint earlier.
His name featured in a list of wanted individuals shared by then Punjab chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh, which was handed over to Trudeau, during the latter’s visit to the state in 2018.
(Edited by Tikli Basu)
This relationship needs a lot of hard work. Canada is a pillar of the western world. G 7, NATO, Five Eyes, NAFTA, Commonwealth. Diaspora.