‘Not good for ties’: India to Canada on Khalistani poster targeting diplomats

A pro-Khalistani Sikh organisation in Canada has circulated flyers with pictures of India’s envoy to the North American nation and another senior diplomat posted in the country being marked as ‘killers’, prompting New Delhi to take up the issue with Ottawa.

“Their (the Khalistanis’) radical, extremist thinking is neither good for us nor for them nor for our relations,” External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar told journalists on Monday.

He signalled that if Canada, Australia, the UK, and the US could not curb the activities of the Khalistanis in their respective territories, it might take a toll on their relations with India.

Also Read | Wanted in India, Khalistan Tiger Force chief Hardeep Singh Nijjar shot dead in Canada

New Delhi has asked Ottawa to deny space for the separatists, who were running the campaign to carve out an independent Khalistan from India.

It has also asked Australia, the United States, and the United Kingdom to prevent the use of their respective territories for running a separatist campaign in India.

The flyers announced a “Khalistan Freedom Rally” in Toronto on July 8 and had pictures of India’s High Commissioner to Canada Sanjay Kumar Verma, and the Consul General in the city Apoorva Srivastava marked as the “faces of the killers” of Hardip Singh Nijjar.

Nijjar was the commander of the Khalistan Tiger Force and one of the most wanted terrorists in India. However, he was living in Surrey. He was shot dead on June 18 by masked assailants at the parking lot of the local gurdwara.

The “Sikhs for Justice” and other pro-Khalistani Sikh organisations convened the rally to honour the “Shaheed Jathedar” (martyr leader) and protest his killing.

Earlier, they alleged that Nijjar was killed by undercover agents working for the government of India.

New Delhi asked Ottawa to ensure the security of India’s diplomatic and consular missions and officials in Canada, a source told DH.