2023-09-19 02:43:34
In a high-profile move, Canada’s prime minister accuses the Indian government of murdering a Canadian citizen. “In recent weeks, Canadian security agencies have been actively pursuing credible allegations of a possible link between Indian government agents and the murder of Canadian citizen Hardeep Singh Nijjar,” Trudeau said in the Canadian Parliament on Monday.
Nijjar, a well-known supporter of an independent Sikh state on Indian territory, was shot dead in June outside a Sikh cultural center in Surrey, British Columbia, Canada.
“Unacceptable violation of our sovereignty”
“Every step must be taken to bring the perpetrators of this murder to justice,” Trudeau continued. Ottawa has expressed deep concern to senior intelligence and security circles in the Indian government. At the G20 summit, he also spoke directly to Modi about the incident. “I continue to urge the Indian government to work with Canada to get to the bottom of this matter,” Trudeau said.
The Canadian government expelled an Indian diplomat who the Foreign Ministry in Ottawa said was suspected of having a connection to the assassination attempt. The fact that a representative of a foreign government could be involved in the murder of a Canadian citizen on Canadian soil is “completely unacceptable,” Foreign Minister Melanie Joly said in justifying the expulsion. There is an “unacceptable violation of our sovereignty,” Prime Minister Trudeau told Parliament.
In a speech to Parliament, Trudeau spoke of “agents of the Indian government” being involved in the murder of a Canadian citizen. : Image: dpa
Trudeau called on the Indian government “strongly” to cooperate in clarifying the allegations. After Nijjar’s murder, relations between Ottawa and New Delhi had already deteriorated considerably.
Ottawa recently put negotiations on a free trade agreement with India on hold. The government in New Delhi accuses Canada of turning a blind eye to the activities of radical Sikh nationalists who advocate independence from India.
Canada is home to the world’s largest Sikh community outside the northern Indian state of Punjab.
Punjab, home to about 58 percent Sikh and 39 percent Hindu, was rocked by a violent independence movement in the 1980s and 1990s. Thousands of people were killed. Today, the most vocal separatists live in the Indian diaspora.
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