Tag: Jaishankar Canada

Days After Indians Arrested in Nijjar Murder Case, Canada FM Reiterates Claims of Indian Involvement

“We stand by the allegations that a Canadian was killed on Canadian soil by Indian agents,” Canadian foreign minister Melanie Joly said, adding that her goal was to conduct diplomacy with India in private.

New Delhi: After three Indians were arrested by Canada, Canadian foreign minister Melanie Joly re-asserted that Ottawa stands by the allegation that Hardeep Singh Nijjar was “killed on Canadian soil by Indian agents”.

Speaking to reporters on Tuesday, she said, in remarks published by Canadian media, that she wanted to let the investigation by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) continue without any commentary.

“We stand by the allegations that a Canadian was killed on Canadian soil by Indian agents,” she said, adding, “the investigation by the RCMP is being done. I won’t further comment and no other officials from our government will further comment”.

She also said her goal was still to conduct diplomacy with India in private.

Last Friday, Canadian police arrested three Indian nationals saying they were members of an alleged hit squad involved in the murder of Hardeep Singh Nijjar – who the Indian home ministry says was a Khalistani terrorist – in British Columbia last year.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau had said in September last year that Indian government agents had been involved in the shooting.

India had dismissed the allegations and claimed that Canada had not done enough to halt the activities of Khalistani groups.

Speaking at the Montreal Council on Foreign Relations, Indian high commissioner to Canada Sanjay Kumar Verma said the deeper problems underneath the recent “negative” developments have to do with Canada’s misunderstanding of “decades-old issues”, which he blames Canadians of Indian origin for resurfacing.

A day after the arrests had been announced, Indian external affairs minister S. Jaishankar had implied that organised crime was behind the Nijjar shootout.

He said that “the fact is a number of gangland people with organised crime links from Punjab have been made welcome in Canada”.

Jaishankar claimed that Canada had continued to allow the entry of criminals from India despite warnings from New Delhi.

“We have been telling Canada, saying, ‘Look, these are wanted criminals from India. You have given them visas, you let them have come, many of them, in false documentation. And yet you allow them to live there.’”

When Canadian federal immigration minister Marc Miller was asked to comment on the immigration status of the three arrested Indians, he declined.

On Jaishankar’s remarks, he noted, “The Indian foreign minister’s entitled to his opinion. It’s just not accurate.”

Canada’s Response to Khalistanis ‘Constrained by Vote-Bank Compulsions’: Jaishankar

Speaking at a commemorative function in New Delhi, external affairs minister S. Jaishankar added that if activities from within Canada threatened India’s national security, India would “have to respond”.

New Delhi: Accusing the Canadian government of being lax towards Khalistan supporters on its shores, external affairs minister S. Jaishankar claimed that its response was driven by “vote-bank compulsions”.

Jaishankar was speaking at an event in New Delhi’s India International Centre on Wednesday, June 28 commemorating the Union government’s ninth year in power.

“For us, how Canada has dealt with the Khalistani issue has been a long-standing concern … Their responses have all been, to the best of my understanding, actually constrained by what they regard as vote-bank compulsions,” Jaishankar said according to the Indian Express.

He added that “if there are activities that are permitted from Canada that impinge on our sovereignty, territorial integrity and security, then we will have to respond.”

Khalistan is the name of a proposed country in the Punjab that is meant to serve as a homeland for Sikhs.

Parts of the Sikh diaspora in Canada are a significant source of support for Khalistan. Vina Nadjibulla, an adjunct professor at the University of British Columbia, told the Toronto Star that the diaspora’s politics was a source of strain for Canada-India relations.

Also Read: Hardeep Nijjar is Third Pro-Khalistani Activist to Die Abroad in 45 Days, Canada Probing Motive

“The relationship we have diplomatically with India is improving rapidly, but I think we would be kidding ourselves if we were not to acknowledge some of the diaspora politics and local issues here in Canada, which will have a significant impact,” she said.

Earlier this month too, Jaishankar accused Canada of allowing the activities of Khalistani groups for “vote bank politics”. On June 4, a tableau was displayed in in Brampton, Ontario – a majority South Asian-city near Toronto – that celebrated the assassination of Indira Gandhi.

Jaishankar took issue to this and also blamed it on “vote-bank” tactics by Canadian politicians.

The external affairs minister also expressed bewilderment at the Canadian national security adviser Jody Thomas’ claims that India was “among the top sources of foreign interference in Canada”. “If anybody has a complaint, we have a complaint about Canada. What I said earlier, the space they are giving to Khalistanis and violent extremists,” Jaishankar said.