Indian high commissioner to Ottawa 'person of interest', alleges Canada

NEW DELHI: India on Monday outrightly rejected as "preposterous imputations" Canada's indication linking the Indian high commissioner to Ottawa to the investigation into the alleged killing of Sikh separatist Hardeep Singh Nijjar.

The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said India received a "diplomatic communication from Canada yesterday suggesting that the Indian High Commissioner and other diplomats are 'persons of interest' in a matter related to an investigation in that country".

"The Government of India strongly rejects these preposterous imputations and ascribes them to the political agenda of the Trudeau government that is centred around vote bank politics," it said.

The MEA said India now reserves the right to take further steps in response to these "latest efforts of the Canadian government to concoct allegations against Indian diplomats".

"Since Prime Minister Trudeau made certain allegations in September 2023, the Canadian government has not shared a shred of evidence with the Government of India, despite many requests from our side," the MEA said.

It said Canada's latest step follows interactions that have again witnessed assertions without any facts.

"This leaves little doubt that on the pretext of an investigation, there is a deliberate strategy of smearing India for political gains," the MEA said.

It said Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's hostility towards India has long been in evidence. In 2018, his visit to India, "which was aimed at currying favour with a vote bank, rebounded to his discomfort".

"His Cabinet has included individuals who have openly associated with an extremist and separatist agenda regarding India," the MEA said.

"His naked interference in Indian internal politics in December 2020 showed how far he was willing to go in this regard," it added.

"That his government was dependent on a political party, whose leader openly espouses a separatist ideology vis-a-vis India, only aggravated matters," the MEA said.

The relations between India and Canada came under severe strain following Trudeau's allegations in September last year of a "potential" involvement of Indian agents in the killing of Khalistani extremist Hardeep Singh Nijjar.

Nijjar was gunned down in Surrey, British Columbia in June last year. New Delhi rejected Trudeau's charges as "absurd".

"Under criticism for turning a blind eye to foreign interference in Canadian politics, his government has deliberately brought in India in an attempt to mitigate the damage," the MEA said.

It said this latest development targeting Indian diplomats is now the next step in that direction.

"It is no coincidence that it takes place as Prime Minister Trudeau is to depose before a Commission on foreign interference," the MEA said in a statement.

"It also serves the anti-India separatist agenda that the Trudeau government has constantly pandered to for narrow political gains," it added.

"To that end, the Trudeau government has consciously provided space to violent extremists and terrorists to harass, threaten and intimidate Indian diplomats and community leaders in Canada. This has included death threats to them and to Indian leaders," the MEA said.

"All these activities have been justified in the name of freedom of speech. Some individuals who have entered Canada illegally have been fast-tracked for citizenship. Multiple extradition requests from the Government of India in respect of terrorists and organised crime leaders living in Canada have been disregarded," it added.

The MEA said High Commissioner Sanjay Kumar Verma is India's seniormost serving diplomat with a distinguished career spanning 36 years. "He has been Ambassador in Japan and Sudan, while also serving in Italy, Turkiye, Vietnam and China. The aspersions cast on him by the Government of Canada are ludicrous and deserve to be treated with contempt," it said.

"The Government of India has taken cognizance of the activities of the Canadian High Commission in India that serve the political agenda of the current regime," it said.