Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government on Friday rejected reports linking Indian leaders to criminal activity in Canada, calling them “speculative and inaccurate.”
In a statement days after a strong rebuttal from New Delhi, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s national security and intelligence adviser Natalie G. Drouhin said the Canadian government, citing unnamed officials, said the Canadian media company He said he was “not aware” of any evidence for the claim.
“On October 14, due to serious and continuing threats to public safety, RCMP and officials took the unusual step of publicly charging serious criminal acts committed in Canada by agents of the Indian government. “The Government of Canada has not stated, nor is it aware of any evidence linking Prime Minister Modi, Minister Jaishankar, or NSA Doval to any serious criminal activity within Canada,” the statement said.
A Thursday report in Canada’s Globe and Mail alleges that Indian leaders were “aware” of a plot to kill Sikh separatist Hardeep Singh Nijjar, who was murdered in Vancouver last year. It cited an anonymous Canadian official.
India immediately reacted sharply to what it called “ridiculous claims”, with foreign ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal calling the report a “smear campaign”.
“Such ludicrous statements against a newspaper purportedly a Canadian government official should be dismissed with due disdain. Such a smear campaign will only further deteriorate already strained relations between our two countries. ” said Jaiswal.
In parallel, Canada reversed its decision to conduct additional testing on travelers bound for India. Earlier this week, Canada’s Transport Minister Anita Anand said the move was taken “out of an abundance of caution.”
India-Canada diplomatic crisis after Nijjar murder
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has raised suspicions that Indian agents were involved in the murder of Nijjar, a Sikh separatist and mastermind of the banned terrorist organization Khalistan Tiger Force. As a result, diplomatic relations between India and Canada plummeted. Canada’s prime minister claimed there was a “credible suspicion” that India was involved in Nijjar’s murder.
India has repeatedly denied the allegations and accused Mr. Trudeau of pandering to Khalistan supporters for domestic political gain at a time when Mr. Trudeau’s popularity among Canadian voters is at an all-time low. India also criticized the allegations, calling them “absurd” and “politically motivated.”
Last month, the Canadian government announced that it had implicated Indian High Commissioner Sanjay Verma and other diplomats in the killing. The Center rejected this claim, noting that despite repeated requests for evidence, Canada was unable to share any substantive evidence to substantiate its claims.
