Deepening the diplomatic row between Delhi and Ottawa over the killing last year of Khalistan separatist Hardeep Singh Nijjar, India Tuesday strongly rejected Canada’s assertion that it had shared credible evidence of Indian involvement in the Nijjar case. The Indian pushback came on the day Canada reached out to the UK and New Zealand — along with the US and Australia, who are also India’s Quad partners, Canada, UK and New Zealand make the Five Eyes intelligence-sharing alliance — and briefed them on its probe into allegations of Indian involvement in the Nijjar killing. Hours after Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau told a press conference that he had informed Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the end of last week about the importance of a meeting between the NSAs of the two countries in Singapore, but nothing came out of it, sources in New Delhi hit back at Trudeau and said it was “the same old Trudeau saying the same old things for the same old reasons”. On the Canadian assertion that it had shared credible evidence of Indian involvement in the Nijjar case, sources said no specifics had been provided and the burden of denial had been put on India. On Monday, India expelled six Canadian diplomats and announced it was withdrawing its High Commissioner from Canada after dismissing allegations linking the envoy to the probe into the Nijjar killing. Replying to a question at Trudeau’s media briefing, Canadian Foreign Minister Melanie Joly did not rule out further action against India. “When you look at what is available in our toolbox, expelling diplomats is one of the highest and toughest measures a country can take under the Vienna Convention… Everything is on the table,” she said. On the Canadian assertion that credible evidence had been presented to India, sources in New Delhi said, “This is simply not true. From the very beginning, the Canadian approach has been to make vague accusations and put the burden of denial on India.” Trudeau reiterated what the Royal Canadian Mounted Police had stated in its press briefing: “They have clear and compelling evidence that agents of the Government of India have engaged in and continue to engage in activities that pose a significant threat to public safety. This includes clandestine information-gathering techniques, coercive behaviour targeting South Asian Canadians and involvement in a dozen threatening and violating acts including murder. This is unacceptable.” He alleged that this weekend Canadian officials shared RCMP evidence with their Indian counterparts, which “concluded that six agents of the Government of India are persons of interest in criminal activities, but the Government of India decided not to cooperate.” Sources said that while assertions were made about connections of certain individuals to India, in no case were any specifics provided. “There was also talk about holding people accountable. But it was never made clear who and for what,” they said. The Indian side also noted it was “absurd that after intensively engaging the High Commissioner (Sanjay Verma) over the last year, the Canadian government now chooses to target him”. Trudeau’s latest remarks, 13 months after he first announced that Canada was investigating potential involvement of Indian government agents in the Nijjar killing, has only escalated the diplomatic row, and added to its fallout – for Indian students, professionals, job-seekers and tourists, visa waiting time increased substantially after the expulsions last year because there were not enough mission staff to process the applications. Trudeau also spoke to British Prime Minister Keir Starmer who agreed on the “importance of the rule of law”, Downing Street said in a statement. News agency PTI said while the statement did not make a direct reference to India, it referred to “allegations” under investigation in Canada. “The Prime Minister spoke to Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau yesterday evening,” the 10 Downing Street statement stated. “They discussed recent developments regarding allegations under investigation in Canada. Both agreed on the importance of the rule of law. They agreed to remain in close contact pending the conclusions of the investigation,” it stated. On Tuesday, Winston Peters, New Zealand Minister of Foreign Affairs, in a post on X, said, “New Zealand has been briefed by Canada about its recent announcements on ongoing criminal investigations into violence and threats of violence against members of its South Asian community.” “The alleged criminal conduct outlined publicly by Canadian law enforcement authorities, if proven, would be very concerning. At the same time, we do not comment on the details of ongoing criminal investigations, in New Zealand or abroad, other than to note that it is important that the rule of law and judicial processes be respected and followed,” Peters said. “New Zealand has a diverse population, with large communities with cultural connections to a broad range of countries from across Asia, the Pacific and Europe. We expect all such communities to act, and be treated, lawfully and with respect,” he said.
