New Delhi (TIP) – The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) has maintained that the Government’s position is “quite consistent” with regard to terrorism-related concerns between India and Canada.
“Whenever this issue is raised, we have highlighted how we see the problem. The core issue is the space given to terrorists, separatists and anti-Indian elements in Canada. Whether they have noted a shift or not, our position has been consistent,” responded MEA spokesperson Arindam Bagchi at a media briefing when asked to react to Canadian PM Justin Trudeau stating that there has been a “tonal shift” in the Indian Government’s stance on alleged extra-territorial assassinations after the US unsealed an indictment relating to an alleged assassination plot against Gurpatwant Singh Pannun. “We hope they will take action against such elements misusing the freedom of speech and expression in that country,” added Bagchi.
In a year-end interview to a Canadian news channel, Trudeau had said Ottawa did not want to enter into a diplomatic standoff with India regarding the murder of Hardeep Singh Nijjar. “I think there is a beginning of an understanding that they can’t bluster their way through this and there is openness to collaborating in a way that perhaps they were less open before,” he said. He said the US indictment appears to have convinced the Indian government to adopt a more sober tone.
The ties between India and Canada came under severe strain following Trudeau’s allegations on September 18 of a “potential” involvement of Indian agents in the killing of Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar on June 18 in British Columbia.
India had designated Nijjar as a terrorist in 2020. India rejected Trudeau’s allegations as “absurd” and “motivated”. In November, the US federal prosecutors charged that one Nikhil Gupta was working with an Indian government employee in the foiled plot to kill a Sikh separatist, who holds dual citizenship of the US and Canada. Though the separatist Sikh leader was not named, media reports identified him as Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, the leader of the Sikhs for Justice, an organisation banned in India.