Amid an ongoing row between India and Canada over the killing of a pro-Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar, Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Wednesday said that there were ‘clear indications’ that India had violated Canadian sovereignty.
At a hearing on foreign interference, Trudeau addressed Nijjar’s murder and also acknowledged that he had not provided India any concrete proof regarding the killing of Nijjar.
“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.
However, India strongly rejected attempts by Canadian authorities to link Indian agents with criminal gangs in Canada. Following that, on Monday, India expelled six Canadian diplomats and withdrew its High Commissioner and five other diplomats from Ottawa.
“Canadians who are opponents of Modi govt, their information was passed to the Indian govt at the highest level and then information directed through criminal organisations like the Lawrence Bishnoi gang resulted in violence against Canadians on the ground,” reported ANI quoting Trudeau.
The Canadian Prime Minister further said that they wanted to question Indian diplomats but “they did not wave their diplomatic immunity, which is why we had to ask them to leave.”
“We had clear and certainly now ever clearer indications that India had violated Canada’s sovereignty,” Trudeau told the inquiry.
Trudeau further said India made “a horrific mistake” by thinking it could interfere as aggressively as it did in Canada’s sovereignty, reported Reuters.
According to AFP, Trudeau told the inquiry that his government does not want to be in a situation “of picking a fight with a significant trading partner,” with whom Canada has deep ties. But he stressed he would not waver when “standing up for Canadian sovereignty.”
Meanwhile, a Liberal Canadian MP has called for Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s resignation as party leader ahead of the next elections, asserting that the country’s ‘people have had enough’.
“The message that I’ve been getting loud and clear – and more and more strongly as time goes by – is that it is time for [Trudeau] to go. And I agree,” Member of Parliament Sean Casey was quoted as saying by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation on Tuesday, reported PTI.