'Monumental mistake by New Delhi': Trudeau accuses India of using diplomats, organised crimes to attack Canadians

Washington: Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has accused India of choosing to use its diplomats and organised crime to attack its citizens and make them feel unsafe on their soil, calling it a "monumental mistake" by New Delhi.

These remarks were made by Trudeau on Monday on a day India expelled six Canadian diplomats and announced withdrawing its High Commissioner from Canada and other "targeted" officials from Canada after strongly dismissing Ottawa's allegations linking the envoy to a probe into the killing of Sikh extremist Hardeep Singh Nijjar. Canada has also announced expulsion of six Indian diplomats.

India has been strongly rejecting Canada's charge of involvement of Indian agents in Nijjar's killing last year.

The ties between India and Canada came under severe strain following Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's allegations in September last year of a "potential" involvement of Indian agents in the killing of Nijjar.

Trudeau spoke to reporters on Monday, hours after the head of the RCMP laid out stunning allegations accusing agents of the Indian government of playing a role in "widespread violence" in Canada, including homicides, and warned that it poses "a serious threat to our public safety," the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation reported.

“I believe that India has made a monumental mistake by choosing to use their diplomats and organised crime to attack Canadians, to make them feel unsafe here at (their) home, and even more, to create acts of violence and even murder. It's unacceptable,” Trudeau alleged.

Trudeau also said that," From the beginning, as of last summer, we've worked closely with our Five Eyes partners, particularly with the United States, where they have gone through a similar pattern of behaviour from India in regards to an attempted extrajudicial killing,” Trudeau told reporters at a news conference in Ottawa.

We will continue to work with our allies as we stand up together for the rule of law, he said.

The US State Department has so far not made any statements on the diplomatic crisis between its two close allies and partners.

The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), in a statement, said that India reserves the right to take further steps in response to the Trudeau government's support for extremism, violence and separatism against India.

“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. His interference in Indian internal politics in December 2020 showed how far he was willing to go in this regard," the MEA said.

During the press conference on Monday, Trudeau said that the situation is extremely undesirable.

“Not only do we not want Canadians to be subjected to violence in their communities, in their homes, but we also do not want to have these tensions in relations with India,” he said.

“That is why last week, we approached the Government of India through our security agencies, diplomats and police agencies, to look for a way to resolve this deep difference...to protect Canadians...but not to come and destroy the good relations or the relations between India and Canada,” Trudeau said.

Unfortunately, India has “not chosen to work with us. They have chosen to deny, repel and to make personal attacks against this government and question the integrity of our agencies and our institutions, and we have had to respond to protect Canadians”, he said.

Trudeau said he met and spoke with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on this last week.

“As the RCMP Commissioner stated earlier, they have clear and compelling evidence that agents of the Government of India have engaged in and continue to engage in activities that pose a significant threat to public safety, including clandestine information gathering techniques, coercive behaviour targeting South Asian Canadians, and involvement in over a dozen threatening and violent acts, including murder,” he said.

While attempts have been made by the RCMP and national security officials to work with India and their law enforcement counterparts on this matter, they have been repeatedly refused, Trudeau claimed.

“This is why, this weekend, Canadian officials took an extraordinary step. They met with Indian officials to share RCMP evidence which concluded six agents of the Government of India are persons of interest in criminal activities,” he alleged.

“Despite repeated requests to India, It has decided not to cooperate,” he claimed.  India has dismissed these allegations and asked the Canadian diplomats to leave the country by or before 11:59 pm on October 19.