Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Tuesday mentioned he was not seeking to “provoke” India or “escalate” tensions, however urged New Delhi to take the killing of a Sikh separatist chief with the “utmost seriousness”.
Trudeau’s feedback got here hours after Canada and India expelled a senior diplomat every following his allegations concerning the involvement of ‘brokers of the Indian authorities’ within the killing of Sikh separatist chief Hardeep Singh Nijjar in June. He mentioned the Indian authorities must “take this matter with the utmost seriousness”.
“We’re doing that. We aren’t seeking to provoke or escalate,” he advised reporters. “We need to work with the federal government of India to put all the pieces clear and to make sure there are correct processes.”
Nijjar, 45, the chief of the banned Khalistan Tiger Power and certainly one of India’s most-wanted terrorists who carried a money reward of Rs 10 lakh on his head, was shot lifeless by two unidentified gunmen exterior a gurdwara in Surrey within the western Canadian province of British Columbia on June 18.
In a speech to the Home of Commons on Monday, Trudeau mentioned Canadian safety companies have been “actively pursuing credible allegations of a possible hyperlink between brokers of the Authorities of India and the killing of a Canadian citizen, Hardeep Singh Nijjar”.
After Trudeau’s remarks in Parliament, Canadian International Minister Melanie Joly confirmed that she has ordered the expulsion of “a senior Indian diplomat”.
Reacting sharply to the allegations and Joly’s remarks, India on Tuesday rejected Trudeau’s claims, calling them “absurd and motivated”. The Ministry of Exterior Affairs has additionally requested a Canadian diplomat to depart India inside the subsequent 5 days.
“Allegations of the Authorities of India’s involvement in any act of violence in Canada are absurd and motivated,” the MEA mentioned in a press release on Tuesday in New Delhi. “Related allegations have been made by the Canadian Prime Minister to our Prime Minister, and have been fully rejected,” it mentioned.
Canada-based Nijjar was designated a ‘terrorist’ by India underneath the stringent Illegal Actions (Prevention) Act in July 2020 and his property within the nation was hooked up by the Nationwide Investigation Company in September 2020.
Interpol Purple Nook Discover was additionally issued in opposition to him in 2016. The native police of Surrey had additionally put Nijjar underneath home arrest quickly in 2018 on suspicion of his terror involvement however he was launched later.
Bilateral ties between India and Canada have been tense in current months. Commerce talks have been derailed and Canada simply cancelled commerce talks.
