2023-09-19 04:17:28
In a high-profile move, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau accuses the Indian government of murdering a Canadian. “In recent weeks, Canadian security agencies have been actively pursuing credible allegations of a possible link between Indian government agents and the murder of Canadian citizen Hardeep Singh Nijjar,” Trudeau said in the Canadian Parliament on Monday. India strongly rejected the allegations.
Nijjar, a well-known supporter of an independent Sikh state on Indian territory, was shot dead in June outside a Sikh cultural center in Surrey, British Columbia, Canada. There are many people of Indian origin living in Canada. A particularly large number of them belong to the Sikh religious community. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi recently expressed his opposition to the so-called Khalistan movement, to which Nijjar was a member, on the sidelines of the G20 summit in New Delhi without directly being named. This promoted secessionism and incited violence once morest Indian diplomats, Modi said, according to his office.
“Every step must be taken to bring the perpetrators of this murder to justice,” Trudeau continued. Ottawa has expressed deep concern to senior intelligence and security circles in the Indian government. At the G20 summit, he also spoke directly to Modi regarding the incident. “I continue to urge the Indian government to work with Canada to get to the bottom of this matter,” Trudeau said. The Canadian Foreign Ministry announced the expulsion of a senior Indian diplomat.
The Indian government “completely rejected” Trudeau’s allegations in a statement, calling them “absurd.” The Foreign Ministry in New Delhi said India was not involved in any acts of violence in Canada. This retaliated and called on Canada to take “immediate and effective legal action once morest all anti-India elements operating from its soil.” With its “unfounded allegations” the government in Ottawa only wants to distract attention from the “Khalistan terrorists and extremists who are being offered refuge in Canada.”
The US government, which is interested in good relations with both countries, was “deeply concerned” regarding Trudeau’s allegations. “We are in regular contact with our Canadian partners,” said US National Security Council spokeswoman Adrienne Watson. “It is vital that the Canadian investigation continues and the perpetrators are brought to justice.”
Ottawa recently put negotiations on a free trade agreement with India on hold. The government in New Delhi accuses Canada of turning a blind eye to the activities of radical Sikh nationalists who advocate independence from India. Canada is home to the world’s largest Sikh community outside the northern Indian state of Punjab. Punjab, home to regarding 58 percent Sikh and 39 percent Hindu, was rocked by a violent independence movement in the 1980s and 1990s. Thousands of people were killed. Today, the most vocal separatists live in the Indian diaspora.
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