Thu 21 September 2023:
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau reiterated Thursday that Canada does not seek to provoke or cause problems, following India’s suspension of all visa services for Canadian citizens and directive to reduce diplomatic staffing as a rift between the countries widened following the prime minister’s statement that India may have been involved in the killing of a Canadian citizen.
SIKH, MUSLIM LEADERS CALL FOR ACTION AS CANADA PROBES SIKH LEADER’S KILLING
Ties between Ottawa and New Delhi, major strategic allies in security and commerce, have reached an all-time low after Trudeau claimed this week that there were “credible allegations” of Indian complicity in the death of a Sikh separatist leader on Indian soil.
Canada has yet to provide any evidence of Indian involvement in the killing. India’s security and intelligence branches have long been active in South Asia and are suspected in a number of killings in Pakistan. But arranging the killing of a Canadian citizen in Canada, home to nearly 2 million people of Indian descent, would be unprecedented.
INDIA ASKS CANADA DIPLOMAT TO LEAVE WITHIN FIVE DAYS IN A TIT-FOR-TAT MOVE
Meanwhile, the High Commission of Canada in India has said its staff members received “threats on various social media platforms”.
“Global Affairs Canada will continue to take all appropriate measures to protect the health and safety of all our personnel, including locally-engaged staff, and to protect our operations in India,” the commission said in a statement, as reported by CBC.
“In the context of respect for obligations under the Vienna conventions, we expect India to provide for the security of our accredited diplomats and consular officers in India, just as we are for theirs here.”
‘We’re not looking to provoke’ India: Trudeau
Trudeau has said that his government is not looking to “cause problems” with India, acknowledging New Delhi’s growing international influence as it forges stronger economic and security ties with the West.
“There is no question that India is a country of growing importance, and a country that we need to continue to work with – not just in the region but around the world,” the Canadian prime minister said.
“And we’re not looking to provoke or cause problems. But we are unequivocal around the importance of the rule of law and unequivocal about the importance of protecting Canadians and standing up for our values.”
CANADA INVESTIGATING POSSIBLE LINK BETWEEN INDIA, KILLING OF SIKH ACTIVIST
Trudeau urges India to work with Canada to probe allegations
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has called on India to work with Canada to investigate the allegations he raised.
“We call upon the government of India to work with us, to take seriously these allegations and to allow justice to follow its course,” Trudeau said during a news conference on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau reiterated Thursday that Canada does not seek to provoke or cause problems, following India's suspension of all visa services for Canadian citizens.#HardeepSinghNijjar #canadaindia #Khalistan #JustinTrudeau #KhalistanReferendum pic.twitter.com/KiL4o2G6FG
— INDEPENDENT PRESS (@IpIndependent) September 21, 2023
India has criticized Canada for years over giving free rein to Sikh separatists, including Nijjar. New Delhi had accused him of having links to terrorism, which he denied.
Nijjar, a plumber, was also a leader in what remains of a once-strong movement to create an independent Sikh homeland, known as Khalistan. A bloody decadelong Sikh insurgency shook north India in the 1970s and 1980s until it was crushed in a government crackdown in which thousands of people were killed, including prominent Sikh leaders.
SOURCE: INDEPENDENT PRESS AND NEWS AGENCIES
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