New Delhi: India has rejected as “absurd and motivated” Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s accusation in Parliament Monday that Indian agents were linked to the murder of Hardeep Singh Nijjar in a Vancouver suburb in June this year.
Trudeau said in an emergency statement to the House of Commons that Canadian security agencies have been “actively pursuing credible allegations of a potential link between agents of the government of India and Nijjar’s death”.
Trudeau said any involvement of a foreign government in the killing of a Canadian citizen was “an unacceptable violation of our sovereignty”, adding he had raised the murder with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the sidelines of the G20 summit in New Delhi.
Subsequently on Monday, Canada expelled India’s top intelligence agent in the country, Foreign Minister Melanie Joly said, without naming the official or providing other details.
In a sharply-worded rebuttal on Tuesday, the Ministry of External Affairs said the allegations of “India’s involvement in any act of violence in Canada are absurd and motivated”.
The ministry also said Prime Minister Narendra Modi had rejected Trudeau’s contention during the G20. “We are a democratic polity with a strong commitment to rule of law,” the statement read.
Hardeep Singh Nijjar, 45, was shot dead outside a Sikh temple on 18 June in Surrey, a suburb of Vancouver with a large Sikh population. Nijjar supported a separate Khalistani state and was designated a “terrorist” by India in July 2020.
Trudeau’s charge has significantly escalated the tension between the two countries, as New Delhi is unhappy with heightened Sikh separatist activity in Canada. Modi also expressed his concerns with Trudeau during the G20 summit about recent demonstrations in his country by Sikhs pushing for an independent state.
The MEA statement also said of Trudeau’s comments: “Such unsubstantiated allegations seek to shift the focus from Khalistani terrorists and extremists, who have been provided shelter in Canada and continue to threaten India’s sovereignty and territorial integrity. The inaction of the Canadian Government on this matter has been a long-standing and continuing concern.”
“The space given in Canada to a range of illegal activities, including murders, human trafficking and organised crime is not new,” the foreign ministry said, rejecting “any attempts” to connect the Indian government to such developments.
"We have seen and reject the statement of the Canadian Prime Minister in their Parliament, as also the statement by their Foreign Minister. Allegations of Government of India's involvement in any act of violence in Canada are absurd and motivated. Similar allegations were made by… https://t.co/lz7pmJmWCl pic.twitter.com/52eeNABSvM
— Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) September 19, 2023
The diplomatic strain over the Sikh issue has begun to threaten trade ties since talks on a possible trade deal have now been frozen.
A spokesperson for Canadian Trade Minister Mary Ng confirmed last Friday that an October trade mission was postponed without giving any reason behind the delay.
Sources cited “certain political developments” in Canada as the reason for the pause in negotiations, and added talks would resume once issues are settled between both the governments.
There were reports earlier that the two countries could reach an interim trade deal by the end of this year.
Also read: Canada says it suspects India involved in Sikh leader murder