India furious as diplomats declared ‘persons of interest’ in Canada probe

New Delhi says it rejects the ‘preposterous imputations’, alleging the claims are portion of Canadian PM Trudeau’s ‘political agenda’.

New Delhi is furious implicit Canada declaring India’s ambassador to Ottawa and different Indian diplomats arsenic “persons of interest” successful a substance related to an investigation, calling the determination “preposterous” and portion of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s “vote slope politics”.

India-Canada relations person been tense since September 2023 erstwhile Trudeau said Canada had credible grounds to nexus Indian agents to the assassination of Sikh separatist person Hardeep Singh Nijjar connected Canadian ungraded that year.

Nijjar supported a Sikh homeland successful the signifier of an independent Khalistani state and was designated by India arsenic a “terrorist” successful July 2020.

But New Delhi has repeatedly denied the allegation that its agents killed him, challenging Canada to stock grounds to backmost its claim.

In a connection connected Monday, the Indian Ministry of External Affairs said it “strongly rejects these preposterous imputations and ascribes them to the governmental docket of the Trudeau Government” and said Canada has not provided immoderate impervious “despite galore requests from our side”.

“This latest measurement follows interactions that person again witnessed assertions without immoderate facts. This leaves small uncertainty that connected the pretext of an investigation, determination is simply a deliberate strategy of smearing India for governmental gains,” the connection added.

“India present reserves the close to instrumentality further steps successful effect to these latest efforts of the Canadian Government to concoct allegations against Indian diplomats,” said the statement.

New Delhi besides alleged the Trudeau authorities “has consciously provided abstraction to convulsive extremists and terrorists to harass, endanger and intimidate Indian diplomats and assemblage leaders successful Canada”.

Canada pulled retired much than 40 diplomats from India successful October 2023 aft New Delhi asked Ottawa to trim its diplomatic presence.

In June this year, a committee of Canadian parliamentarians named India and China arsenic the main overseas threats to its antiauthoritarian institutions, based connected input from quality agencies.

India’s envoy successful Ottawa, Sanjay Kumar Verma, called the study politically motivated and influenced by Sikh separatist campaigners.

Earlier this year, Trudeau said helium hoped India would “engage with america truthful that we tin get to the bottommost of this precise superior matter”.

Soon aft Canada’s allegation, the United States claimed that Indian agents were progressive successful an attempted assassination crippled of different Sikh separatist person successful New York successful 2023, and said it had indicted an Indian nationalist who was moving astatine the behest of an unnamed Indian authorities official.

The assassination plots against Sikh separatist leaders successful Canada and the US person tested their narration with India, arsenic the Western nations anticipation to forge deeper ties with New Delhi to antagonistic China’s rising planetary influence.

Source

:

Al Jazeera and quality agencies