Justin Trudeau wears sacred threads from 3 Hindu temples, shares Diwali video amid India-Canada tensions

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau released a fresh Diwali video on Saturday amid escalating tensions with India. The embattled politician showcased sacred threads he had gotten from various Hindu temples in recent months. The development came even as Canada named India in a list of cyberthreat adversaries for the first time.

“I got these bracelets when I was in three different Hindu temples over the past few months. They're good luck...protection,” Trudeau can be seen explaining in the video message.

The Canadian leader was also seen interacting with the Indian community and extending festive greetings to various people at events in the short clip.

Ties between India and Canada have been frosty for more than a year following assertions by Trudeau that there was ‘credible evidence’ linking Indian government agents to the murder of Nijjar. Canada alleged on Tuesday that senior BJP leader and Indian Home Minister Amit Shah was behind plots to target Sikh separatists on Canadian soil.

The video also comes days after Trudeau released an official Diwali statement lauding the “incredible” Indo-Canadian community and vowing to “always stand with Hindu Canadians” and ensure their safety. He had also dubbed Diwali a “holiday of hope” — where the bright lights of the festival “encourage us all to defeat darkness and find purpose”. 

Meanwhile India issued a furious rebuttal on Saturday after Canadian authorities listed the country as a cyberthreat adversary for the first time. Ottawa also suggested that state-sponsored actors could be spying against it — an allegation that New Delhi has dubbed “another example” of the Canadian strategy to “attack India.”

“We assess that Indian state-sponsored cyber threat actors likely conduct cyber threat activity against Government of Canada networks for the purpose of espionage,” a report said while listing India fifth on its list — after China, Russia, Iran and North Korea.

India is also mentioned in the trend on 'Geopolitically inspired non-state actors are creating unpredictability' citing as example how a pro-India hacktivist group claimed to have defaced and conducted brief attack against Canadian websites after India was accused of involvement in the killing of a Canadian citizen.

Meanwhile India issued a furious rebuttal on Saturday after Canadian authorities listed the country as a cyberthreat adversary for the first time. Ottawa also suggested that state-sponsored actors could be spying against it — an allegation that New Delhi has dubbed “another example” of the Canadian strategy to “attack India.”

“We assess that Indian state-sponsored cyber threat actors likely conduct cyber threat activity against Government of Canada networks for the purpose of espionage,” a report said while listing India fifth on its list — after China, Russia, Iran and North Korea.

India is also mentioned in the trend on 'Geopolitically inspired non-state actors are creating unpredictability' citing as example how a pro-India hacktivist group claimed to have defaced and conducted brief attack against Canadian websites after India was accused of involvement in the killing of a Canadian citizen.|#+|

(With inputs from agencies)