Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s allegations of Indian role in the killing of Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar seems politically driven and Ottawa has not shared any specific information regarding that, Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said on Thursday.
Addressing a weekly press conference, MEA spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said, “We are willing to look at any specific information that is provided to us, but so far we have received no specific information from Canada.”
The MEA spokesperson said that India, on the other, has shared specific evidence about criminal activities of Canada-based individuals but Ottawa has not to acted upon them.
“From our side, specific evidence about criminal activities by individuals based on Canadian soil has been shared with Canada but not acted upon.
“…I do think there is a degree of prejudice here. They have made allegations and taken action on them. To us, it seems that these allegations by the government of Canada are primarily politically driven,” Bagchi added.
The already strained ties between India and Canada plummeted after Monday’s allegations by Trudea. Interestingly, the Canadian prime minister has been facing embarrassing situation at home as well and the country’s Opposition leader Pierre Poilievre also asked Trudeau to “come clean with facts”.
Nijjar was killed by two masked gunmen in the parking lot of a Gurudwara in Canada’s Surrey, British Columbia on June 18. His murder is believed to be the result of an inter-gang rivalry.
Amid reports that Canada will restructure its diplomatic presence in India, the MEA spokesperson said that New Delhi has asked Canadian officials to have “parity” with diplomatic presence.
“We informed the Canadian government to have parity with diplomatic presence, their numbers are higher and I assume there will be a reduction,” he said.