Amid ongoing tension between India and Canada, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Wednesday defended his act wherein he informed the House of Commons about “credible allegations” linking Indian agents to the killing of Khalistan terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar. According to Trudeau, his act on September 18 was in line to deter India from "continuing such actions in Ottawa".
It is worth mentioning Nijjar, an Indian-origin but Canadian citizen, was shot by unidentified men outside a gurdwara in Surrey, British Columbia, on June 18. Nearly three months after the killing, Trudeau abruptly appeared in the Canadian Parliament and alleged India's involvement in the killing of the Sikh separatist leader.
"Put a chill on India", says Trudeau
"We felt that all the quiet diplomacy and all the measures that we put in, and ensured that our security services put in to keep people safe in the community, needed a further level of deterrence, perhaps of saying publicly and loudly that we know, or we have credible reasons to believe, that the Indian government was behind this. And therefore put a chill on them continuing or considering doing anything like this," Trudeau said in an interview with the agency Canadian Press.
The Canadian Prime Minister claimed that his officials had "warned" New Delhi about India's role in the developments in their country and added Ottawa tried to keep the issue under the diplomatic channel. He said that the issue was also discussed when he met his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi at the G20 Summit in New Delhi.
Why Canadia did not hand over evidence to India?
When asked why Canada has not provided any evidence of India's involvement in the killing of Nijjar like the United States shared in a similar case, Trudeau said Ottawa also wants to transfer but added he came to know that US authorities had begun their investigation into attempted murder earlier.
“Canada is investigating a murder and there are different stakes involved in that and our justice system has different processes,” he said, and added, “But that is unfolding.” However, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, during the question hour in Rajya Sabha, clarified that Canada did not provide any evidence to India whereas the US has given inputs about the allegations.
Earlier last week, US federal prosecutors charged Nikhil Gupta, 52, with working with an Indian government employee in the foiled plot to kill Khalistani terrorist Gurupatwant Singh Pannun. The US prosecutors informed a Manhattan court that authorities in the Czech Republic arrested and detained Gupta-- a claim that the Indian official vehemently rejected but raised "grave concerns" over the matter.
