Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau along with Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Credit: Reuters File Photo
New Delhi: Prime Minister Justin Trudeau alleged in Ottawa on Wednesday that India’s diplomats and other officials posted in his country had been collecting information about the citizens of Canada opposed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government in New Delhi and passed on that information to criminal organisations like the one led by gangster Lawrence Bishnoi.
Trudeau on Wednesday also said that his government had only provided "intelligence and no proof" to New Delhi regarding the alleged role of the agents of the Government of India in the killing of Nijjar, a Khalistani Sikh extremist.
“Canadians who are opponents of Modi govt, their information was passed to the Indian government at the highest level and then information directed through criminal organisations like the Lawrence Bishnoi gang resulted in violence against Canadians on the ground,” Trudeau said on Wednesday testifying before a commission conducting a public inquiry into the allegations of foreign interference in federal electoral processes and democratic institutions. “We wanted to question Indian diplomats, but they did not waive their diplomatic immunity which is why we had to ask them to leave."
His comment came two days after New Delhi decided to withdraw its envoy to Ottawa, Sanjay Kumar Verma, and five of his colleagues after Canada conveyed to India that they had been identified as “persons of interest” in the police investigation into the killing of the Khalistani Sikh extremist Hardeep Singh Nijjar at the parking lot of a gurdwara in the British Columbia province North American country on June 18, 2023.
Lawrence Bishnoi, a gangster, is now incarcerated in a jail in Gujarat in India. He allegedly runs a criminal network, not only in India but also in Canada.
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police earlier this week alleged that the gang led by Lawrence Bishnoi was connected to the “agents” of the Government of India and was targeting the South Asian community, specifically the ones in favour of carving out a ‘Khalistan’ from India.
“We had clear and certainly now ever clearer indications that India had violated Canada's sovereignty," Trudeau said on Wednesday. He added that the Royal Canadian Mounted Police had determined that “violence towards Canadians... has been enabled by and in many cases directed by the Indian government”.
Trudeau said that Ottawa had taken up with New Delhi the allegation against the role of India’s agents in Canada in the killing of Nijjar. New Delhi responded by doubling down on attacks against his government and by arbitrarily ejecting dozens of Canadian diplomats from India, he said.
The Canadian prime minister spoke about his meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the G20 Summit in New Delhi in September 2023 before Canada went public with its allegations against India.
"I sat down and shared (with Modi) that we knew that they were involved (in Nijjar killing) and expressed a real concern around it. He responded with the usual response from him, which is that we have people who are outspoken against the Indian government living in Canada that he would like to see arrested," he said.
He said that when Canadian agencies asked India to look into the allegations, New Delhi sought proof. "At that point, it was primarily intelligence, not hard evidentiary proof," Trudeau said.