The Ministry of External Affairs has strongly criticised Justin Trudeau's comments on “not hard evidentiary proof” against India on Khalistan activist Hardeep Singh Nijjar's killing in a statement released last night. The MEA also held Trudeau's “cavalier behaviour” responsible for damaging India-Canada relations.
New Delhi has consistently rubbished Canada's allegations, first levelled in September last year.
“What we have heard today only confirms what we have been saying consistently all along - Canada has presented us no evidence whatsoever in support of the serious allegations that it has chosen to level against India and Indian diplomats,” said MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal in an official statement last night in response to Trudeau's comment on Wednesday.
“The responsibility for the damage that this cavalier behaviour has caused to India-Canada relations lies with Prime Minister Trudeau alone,” Jaiswal added.
During a hearing on foreign interference, he discussed the murder of Hardeep Singh Nijjar and admitted that he had not provided concrete evidence to India regarding the incident. Trudeau mentioned that the information was primarily based on intelligence rather than hard proof, suggesting a collaborative effort to investigate the situation further.
“And at that point, it was primarily intelligence, not hard evidentiary proof. So we said let's work together and look into the situation,” said Trudeau.
Trudeau's latest remark comes days after relations between India and Canada plunged to a new low after the Canadian authorities accused the Indian government of supporting criminal activities targeting Canadian citizens. India earlier on Monday expelled six Canadian diplomats and also announced withdrawing its high commissioner from Canada after dismissing Ottawa's allegations linking the envoy to a probe into the killing of Nijjar.
India has repeatedly said that the main issue between the two countries is that of Canada giving space to pro-Khalistan elements operating from Canadian soil with impunity. Nijjar, designated a terrorist by India, was killed outside a Gurdwara in Surrey, British Columbia, on June 18, 2023.
