(Ottawa) Canada seeks neither “provocation” nor “escalation” with India, Justin Trudeau said the day after explosive allegations that New Delhi had “a credible link” with the assassination of a leader of the Sikh community in British Columbia.
The allegations, based on information collected by Canadian intelligence agencies, were described as “absurd” by the Indian foreign ministry. And to respond to Ottawa, which expelled an Indian diplomat, New Delhi expelled a Canadian diplomat from its territory.
“The Government of India must treat this issue with utmost seriousness. This is what we do. We are not looking for provocation or escalation. We present the facts as we understand them,” declared Justin Trudeau upon his arrival at his cabinet meeting on Tuesday morning.
A Sikh temple leader accused of murder conspiracy and terrorism in India, Hardeep Singh Nijjar was shot and killed outside the temple in Surrey, British Columbia, in late June. He was reportedly the subject of death threats due to his support for an independent Sikh state of Khalistan.
PHOTO CHRIS HELGREN, REUTERS
Hardeep Singh Nijjar
When asked about the timing of this announcement, Prime Minister Trudeau notably maintained that he wanted to inform Canada’s allies and the Government of India before making this allegation public.
“I want to reiterate that we should remain calm, that we should remain anchored in our democratic values, in the principles of the rule of law, follow the facts and do the necessary work to ensure justice and accountability,” also pleaded the first Canadian minister.
The identity of the Canadian diplomat who was expelled from India has not been confirmed by Global Affairs Canada. According to Hindustan TimesCanada’s High Commissioner to India, Cameron MacKay, was summoned by the Indian government to New Delhi.
On Monday, Ottawa declared persona non grata diplomat Pavan Kumar Rai, who heads the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW), India’s foreign intelligence agency in Canada.
This is “no longer Gandhi’s India”
Canada’s Sikh community reacted with relief to Justin Trudeau’s announcement, which “publicly declared what Canada’s Sikhs have known for decades: India is actively targeting Canada’s Sikhs,” the World Sikh Organization said. of Canada (WSO).
“It should now be clear to all Canadians that the Indian government is a terrorist state that has brazenly engaged in extrajudicial killings not only on its own soil, but also on Canadian soil,” it added, Monday, in a press release.
The National Council of Canadian Muslims (NCMC) joined its voice with that of the WSO. “Unfortunately, and tragically, we are no longer in Gandhi’s India. It is no longer the largest liberal democracy in the world,” lamented its spokesperson, Stephen Brown, at a press conference in parliament.
Because a “far-right paramilitary group, the RSS (Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh) has taken control” of the Modi government, he argued, urging the Trudeau government to ban the presence of their agents in Canada.
The WSO and the CNMC are also calling for a “formal freeze” of trade negotiations with India – a few days ago, the Minister of International Trade, Mary Ng, canceled the trade mission she was to lead to India, without providing precise explanations.
The groups are also calling on Ottawa to oust India’s High Commissioner to Canada, Sanjay Kumar Verma. The government, which has summoned the Russian and Chinese ambassadors numerous times in recent months, did not want to say whether the head of mission in New Delhi had been summoned.
A real Canadian citizen
The Minister of Immigration, Marc Miller, wanted to nip in the bud on Tuesday the rumors circulating about the status of Hardeep Singh Nijjar – information which had notably been relayed by the Global News network.
“I can confirm that Hardeep Singh Nijjar became a Canadian citizen on March 3, 2015. I hope this dispels the baseless rumors that he was not Canadian,” he wrote on X.
