Canada driven by vote-bank politics on Khalistan issue, says Jaishankar

“For us, how Canada has dealt with the Khalistani issue has been a long-standing concern. Because very frankly, they seem to be driven by vote-bank politics,” Jaishankar said.

“Their responses have all been, to the best of my understanding, actually constrained by what they regard as vote bank compulsions,” he said. The External Affairs Minister said the government made it clear to Canada that if the activities there impinge on India’s national security, it will respond.

“We made it very clear and I have done so in public, which is that if there are activities that are permitted from Canada that impinge on our sovereignty, territorial integrity and security, then we will have to respond,” he said.

“It is something which is a continuing conversation with Canada; not always a satisfactory conversation but it is something on which we are very clear. You can see that in many ways in the last few years, it has impacted our ties,” he said. Earlier this month, India slammed Canada after visuals surfaced on social media of a float in Brampton that reportedly celebrated the assassination of former PM Indira Gandhi.