India hits out at ‘cavalier’ Trudeau as rift with Canada deepens

Canadian PM said India made ‘horrific mistake’ by violating country’s sovereignty arsenic relations plunge to caller low.

India has accused Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau of “cavalier behaviour” amid the ongoing diplomatic fallout implicit past year’s execution of a Sikh separatist connected Canadian soil.

India’s Ministry of External Affairs said connected Thursday that Canada had presented “no grounds whatsoever” to enactment its “serious allegations” that Indian authorities agents had targeted Canada-based Sikh separatists, including naturalised Canadian national Hardeep Singh Nijjar, murdered successful Vancouver successful June 2023.

The ministry deed retired astatine Trudeau, who said during a parliamentary inquiry connected Wednesday that Canada had “clear … indications that India had violated Canada’s sovereignty”.

The premier minister’s behaviour had caused “damage” to India-Canada relations, the ministry said.

Speaking astatine the inquiry, Trudeau accused India of making a “horrific mistake”, alleging Nijjar’s execution was portion of an extended Indian cognition to systematically people Sikh dissidents wrong Canada campaigning for an independent Khalistani state.

On October 14, 2024, India again rejected claims it was connected to the sidesplitting of Nijjar, insisting that the “preposterous” allegations were a “strategy of smearing India for governmental gains”.

That day, India and Canada kicked retired each other’s diplomats implicit the rift.

Canada’s apical envoy to New Delhi, Stewart Wheeler, who has been ordered to permission by Saturday night, has said Ottawa provided “credible, irrefutable grounds of ties betwixt agents of the Government of India and the execution of a Canadian citizen”.

Canadian authorities person arrested 4 Indian nationals successful transportation with Nijjar‘s murder.

Nijjar – who immigrated to Canada in 1997 and became a national successful 2015 – had advocated for a abstracted Sikh state, known arsenic Khalistan, carved retired of India.

He had been wanted by Indian authorities for alleged coercion and conspiracy to perpetrate murder.

Last year, the Indian authorities concisely curbed visas for Canadians implicit the affair.

India’s authorities has besides faced accusations from the United States of attempting to assassinate a Sikh separatist connected its soil.

In November 2023, the US Department of Justice announced charges against Indian nationalist Nikhil Gupta implicit an alleged crippled targeting Sikh-American activistic Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, besides a dual nationalist of the US and Canada.

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