The Indian govt. had made ‘a fundamental error’ by thinking it could engage in ‘murders or extortion or other violent acts’ against Canadians on Canadian soil, says Trudeau; Canada to ‘continue to ask’ for India’s cooperation, says Foreign Minister
Prior to the expulsion of six Indian diplomats from Canada, the Canadian authorities had confronted these officials with information about their alleged role in violent acts in Canada, including extortion and homicide, with the aim of disrupting ongoing violence against Canadian citizens, according to Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
The relations between India and Canada have been unravelling since Mr. Trudeau told the Canadian parliament in September 2023 that Indian agents were behind the slaying of a Canadian citizen and proKhalistan figure Hardeep Singh Nijjar in June 2023.
Speaking at a press conference in Ottawa on Monday, Mr. Trudeau and his colleagues, Foreign Minister Mélanie Joly and Public Safety Minister Dominic Leblanc, emphasised that the nature of the alleged violence caused by agents of the Indian government was “ongoing” and that the reason the Canadian authorities precipitated a diplomatic situation was to disrupt the pattern after
failing to obtain the cooperation of the Indian government.
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) had approached the Indian authorities as recently as
last week, as per Mr. Trudeau, but the Indian side had “rejected those advances”, necessitating Monday’s actions. Ms. Joly claimed that sitting Indian diplomats were involved in acts of violence and the level of violence had increased since last year, when Mr. Trudeau first made the allegations.
The Government of India had made “a fundamental error” by thinking it could engage in “murders or extortion or other violent acts” against Canadians on Canadian soil, Mr. Trudeau said.
He said India’s response had been to “deny, to obfuscate, to attack me [Mr. Trudeau] personally, and the integrity of the Government of Canada and its officials and its police agencies”, ever since he made his allegations about Indian involvement in the killing of Nijjar.
Mr. Trudeau told presspersons that he had emphasised to Prime Minister Narendra Modi last week in Laos, when the two men interacted on the fringes of the ASEAN Summit, how “incredibly important” the meeting between the countries’ national security advisers [Ajit Doval and Canadian NSA Nathalie Drouin] in Singapore [reportedly held on October 12] was.
“Canada fully respects the sovereignty and territorial integrity of India. We expect the Indian government to do the same for Canada,” he said. New Delhi, however, does not share that view. The government has repeatedly said that domestic political compulsions and “vote bank” politics in Canada have led to a very “permissive” environment in the country for India-related secessionist activity.
When asked about the number of homicides that were allegedly being orchestrated by Indian agents, the Security Minister, Mr. LeBlanc, demurred, not wanting to get ahead of the RCMP investigations.
The Foreign Minister said she had been in touch with External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar on Monday and that Canada would “continue to ask” for India’s cooperation. She also confirmed she had spoken with her ‘Five Eyes’ counterparts.