‘Ludicrous statements’: India on Canadian media report claiming ‘PM Modi was aware of Nijjar murder plot’

“We do not normally comment on media reports. However, such ludicrous statements made to a newspaper purportedly by a Canadian government source should be dismissed with the contempt they deserve,” he said.

“Smear campaigns like this only further damage our already strained ties,” he added.

What the report said?

The Globe and Mail report said, “Canadian security agencies believe Prime Minister Narendra Modi of India knew about the killing of a Sikh separatist leader in British Columbia and other violent plots, according to a senior national-security official who worked on the intelligence assessment of New Delhi’s foreign-interference operations in Canada.”

The unnamed official told the newspaper that Canadian and American intelligence tied the assassination operations to Union Home Minister Amit Shah and national-security adviser Ajit Doval and External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar were also in the loop.

Strained India-Canada ties

The India-Canada ties had hit a low on October 14 after the Canadian government said Indian diplomats including the High Commissioner were “persons of interest” in the Nijjar murder probe. Later, India responded by withdrawing these diplomats and expelling six Canadian envoys from the country.

Subsequently, Canadian police claimed that India government has been using gangster Lawrence Bishnoi to carry out criminal operations there and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said India had “repeatedly refused” to cooperate in the investigation.

It was in September last year, India-Canada ties nosedived when Trudeau spoke in Canadian parliament that there was evidence linking Indian agents to the assassination of Nijjar, who was shot dead in Surrey, Canada in June 2023. India had termed the allegations motivated and rejected the claims.

With PTI inputs