India-Canada row escalates; New Delhi rejects Justin Trudeau’s charges. Washington Post report drags Amit Shah

Amit Shah authorized attacks’ in Canada, Washington Post cites Canadian officials as alleging

The India-Canada diplomatic row over the killing of Sikh separatist Hardeep Singh Nijjar escalated further on Tuesday with Ottawa attempting to link the Bishnoi gang with Indian government agents to carry out covert operations in that country and New Delhi stoutly trashing the charges. Washington Post reported that Canadian officials identified the role of India’s Home Minister Amit Shah’s role.

“Canadian officials identified the senior official in India as Amit Shah, a member of Modi’s inner circle who serves as home affairs minister. Spokespeople in India’s Ministry for External Affairs and its Home Ministry, which oversees national security matters, did not respond to requests for comment about Shah’s alleged role.

“Canadian officials shared details about the references to Shah and other evidence with India’s national security adviser, Ajit Doval, at a secret meeting in Singapore on Saturday. Canadians who took part in the meeting included Trudeau’s national security adviser, Nathalie Drouin, and Deputy Foreign Minister David Morrison, as well as a top RCMP official,” reported Washington Post.[1]

As the ties between the two countries hit rock bottom, Canadian Foreign Minister Melanie Joly did not rule out imposing sanctions against India saying “everything is on the table”. On its part, India strongly rejected attempts by Canadian authorities to link Indian agents with criminal gangs in Canada with official sources even saying that Ottawa’s assertion that it shared evidence with New Delhi in the Nijjar case was simply not true.

Indian officials also rejected Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s allegations that India was engaging in activities including carrying out covert operations targeting Canadian nationals in his country. At a press conference, Trudeau, pointing fingers at India on the Nijjar case, said Canada will never tolerate the involvement of a foreign government in threatening and killing Canadian citizens on Canadian soil.

On Monday, India expelled six Canadian diplomats and announced withdrawing its high commissioner from Canada after dismissing Ottawa’s allegations linking the envoy to a probe into the killing of Sikh extremist Nijjar.

Joly, replying to a question at Trudeau’s media briefing, did not rule out further action against India. “So today was a really important step. When you look at what is available in our toolbox, expelling diplomats is one of the highest and toughest measures a country can take under the Vienna Convention…Everything is on the table,” she said.

The ties between India and Canada came under severe strain following Canadian Prime Minister Trudeau’s allegations in September last year of the “potential” involvement of Indian agents in the killing of Nijjar. New Delhi rejected Trudeau’s charges as “absurd“.

In his comments at the media briefing on Monday, Trudeau, referring to findings by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), claimed that it has “clear and compelling evidence that agents of the government of India have engaged in, and continue to engage in, activities that pose a significant threat to public safety”. “This includes clandestine information gathering techniques, coercive behaviour targeting South Asian Canadians, and involvement in over a dozen threatening and violent acts, including murder. This is unacceptable,” he alleged.

Indian diplomats said: “Canadian PM Trudeau’s press conference yesterday was the same old Trudeau saying the same old things for the same old reasons.” They said the assertions by Canadian officials that Canada presented credible evidence to India in the Nijjar case is “simply not true”.

Reference:

[1] Canada alleges much wider campaign by Modi government against Sikhs – Oct 14, 2024, Washington Post

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