Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, on Wednesday, said that if India is involved in the killing of Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar on Canadian soil, it has made a “horrific mistake.”
This came shortly after Trudeau admitted that his government only provided “intelligence and no proof” to India about its involvement.
India’s Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) has held Trudeau personally responsible for causing damage to India-Canada relations by his “cavalier behaviour”.
‘Persons of Interest’
Two days ago, Canada threatened to expel Indian diplomats, calling them “persons of interest” in the killing of the Sikh separatist, claiming that it had provided India with proof about the same.
India has denied these allegations outright and recalled its envoy to Canada and five others. India also expelled six Canadian diplomats based in Delhi.
During the hearing Trudeau had claimed that the Canadian agencies tried to work behind the scenes with India, before going public.
He said that when Canadian agencies asked India to investigate the allegations, New Delhi sought proof. “At that point, it was primarily intelligence, not hard evidentiary proof,” Trudeau admitted.
During the hearing Trudeau confessed, “they [India] asked us how much do you know? Give us the evidence you have on this and our response was well, it’s within your security agencies, you should be looking into how much they know you should be engaging.”
Managing The Issue ‘Responsibly’
Trudeau claimed his intention was to manage the issue “responsibly” without damaging the bilateral relationship with an important trade partner. He added that Canada must take any potential breach of its sovereignty and the international rule of law seriously.
However, he alleged that Indian authorities had dismissed Canada’s requests for help in the investigation.
“It was clear that the Indian government’s approach was to criticise us and the integrity of our democracy,” he said.
Following Monday’s allegations from Canadian officials, the UK and US urged India to cooperate with Canada’s legal process.
(with inputs from Reuters)
