New Delhi:

India has summoned Canada’s charge d’ affairs in New Delhi after the diplomatic relations between the two countries witnessed a new low today. Foreign Ministry’s summons to Stewart Wheeler followed the government’s criticism of Canada for investigating the Indian ambassador and other diplomats as “persons of interest” over the killing of Khalistani terrorist 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 called the allegations “preposterous” and a “strategy of smearing India for political gains”.

 “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,” the government said in a sharp rebuttal.

“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,” the foreign ministry added.

The 2023 murder of Nijjar crashed diplomatic ties between New Delhi and Ottawa after Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said there were “credible allegations” linking Indian intelligence to the crime. India, which had designated Nijjar as a terrorist in 2020, dismissed the charges as “absurd”.

Canada has now reportedly named the Indian High Commissioner Sanjay Kumar Verma as a ‘person of interest’ in its investigation. India accused Canada of maligning its officials without evidence and using “preposterous” claims to justify its failure to curb Khalistani extremism on its soil.

“High Commissioner Sanjay Kumar Verma is India’s senior-most serving diplomat with a distinguished career spanning 36 years. He has been an 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,” the foreign ministry said.

It said Canadian Prime Minister Trudeau’s hostility to 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 ministry said.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi recently met Justin Trudeau on the sidelines of the ASEAN Summit in Laos, almost a year after his Canadian counterpart accused India of involvement in the death of a Khalistani terrorist.

Even as sources in New Delhi said there was no substantive discussion between the two leaders, Trudeau termed the meeting a “brief exchange”.

“I won’t go into details about what we talked about but what I’ve said many times is that the safety of Canadians and upholding the rule of law is one of the fundamental responsibilities of any Canadian government and that’s what I’ll stay focused on,” Trudeau told a press conference at Vientiane.

Canada is home to around 7,70,000 Sikhs, who make up about two percent of the country’s population.

India has been maintaining that the main issue between the two countries is that of Canada giving space to pro-Khalistan elements operating from Canadian soil with impunity.

Toronto:

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said on Sunday that the investigation into the killing of India-designated terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar is “not limited” to the arrest of three Indian nationals and is ongoing.

Trudeau said that it is important because “Canada is a rule-of-law country”.

The Canada PM’s remarks came days after three Indian nationals were arrested for their alleged involvement in the killing of Nijjar.

The Canadian police on Saturday released photographs of all three persons arrested in the last year’s killing of Nijjar amid an ongoing probe into the alleged connections of the Indian government.

The police have not given any evidence of any link to India, as was being speculated in Canadian media. India has repeatedly denied the allegations, terming them “absurd and motivated.”

Giving an address at the Sikh Foundation of Canada’s Centennial Gala event held at the Royal Ontario Museum on Sunday, Trudeau began by acknowledging the arrests made in connection to the case, emphasising that the investigation remains ongoing.

“I need to begin, somewhat awkwardly perhaps, but importantly, to acknowledge the arrests that were made in relation to the murder of Nijjar. As the RCMP (Royal Canadian Mounted Police) stated, the investigation remains ongoing, as does a separate and distinct investigation, not limited to the involvement of the three people arrested yesterday,” he said.

He highlighted Canada’s status as a rule-of-law country with a robust and independent justice system. “This is important because Canada is a rule-of-law country with a strong and independent justice system, as well as a fundamental commitment to protecting all its citizens. I know that many Canadians, particularly members of the Sikh community, are feeling uneasy and perhaps even frightened right now,” Trudeau added.

Trudeau also reassured that every Canadian has the fundamental right to live safely and free from discrimination and violence. He urged them to “remain calm… remain steadfast in our commitment to our democratic principles and our system of justice. This is who we are and what we do as Canadians”.

A day ago, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said Canada has been issuing visas to people with links to organised crime despite warnings from New Delhi. Jaishankar said some people in Canada, with ‘pro-Pakistan leanings’, have organised themselves politically and taken the shape of an influential political lobby. He said he saw reports that three people have been arrested, and, the Canadian police have conducted ‘some investigation’.

Nijjar, who was designated a terrorist by India’s National Investigation Agency in 2020, was shot and killed as he came out of a Gurdwara in Surrey in June last year.

On June 18, 2023, the Surrey RCMP received a report of a shooting at the Guru Nanak Sikh Gurdwara in Surrey. First responding members located a man, later identified as Hardeep Singh Nijjar, suffering from fatal gunshot wounds inside a vehicle.

The Integrated Homicide Investigation Team (IHIT) has been carrying out the investigation. It has continued to work closely with a number of partner agencies and support services across Canada, as far east as Ontario, including the Surrey RCMP, the Alberta RCMP and other Lower Mainland Integrated Teams.

Nijjar’s killing triggered diplomatic tensions between Canada and India after Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau accused India of being involved in the killing — a claim that India has rejected as “absurd.”

The video of his killing that reportedly surfaced in March this year showed Nijjar being shot by armed men in what has been described as a “contract killing”.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)