India’s External Affairs Minister, S. Jaishankar, has offered reassurance to Canada, indicating a willingness to take action should they provide specific information regarding the killing of Khalistani leader Hardeep Nijjar. Jaishankar emphasized India’s openness to examining such information while speaking at a ‘Discussion at Council on Foreign Relations’ event in New York.
He stated, “We told the Canadians that this is not the government of India’s policy. Secondly, we said if you have something specific and if you have something relevant, let us know. We are open to looking at it…The picture is not complete without the context in a way.”
It is important to note that Canada has not presented any public evidence to substantiate its claim concerning Hardeep Singh Nijjar’s slaying.
Minister Jaishankar also highlighted the prevalence of organized crime in Canada in recent years, often linked to secessionist movements, violence, and extremism. He noted that India has shared substantial information with Canada on this matter, including numerous extradition requests and the identification of terrorist leaders operating from Canadian territory.
In his words, “In the last few years, Canada actually has seen a lot of organized crime, relating to the secessionist forces, organized crime, violence and extremism. They’re all very, very deeply mixed up. So in fact, we have been talking about specifics and information. We have given them a lot of information about organized crime and leadership, which operates out of Canada. There are a large number of extradition requests. There are terrorist leaders who have been identified.”
The External Affairs Minister expressed concern over incidents involving threats to Indian diplomats and attacks on Indian consulates, characterizing these occurrences as “very permissive,” often attributed to political reasons. He acknowledged that such actions have sometimes been justified in the name of democratic norms but indicated that the Indian government would take action if specific information about any such incidents were provided.
Jaishankar added, “If somebody gives me something specific, it doesn’t have to be restricted to Canada. But if there’s any incident which is an issue and somebody gives me something specific, as a government, I would look at it.”
Earlier in the week, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau made a controversial statement, accusing the Indian government of involvement in the killing of Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar—a claim that India vehemently rejected as baseless and motivated. In response to Trudeau’s allegations, India suspended its visa services in Canada.
Given the strained relations, India issued an advisory for its citizens and travelers to Canada, urging them to exercise “utmost caution” due to the rise of anti-India activities and politically-condoned hate crimes and criminal violence within the country.
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