Khalistani forces given lot of space in Canadian politics: External Affairs Minister Jaishankar

Jaishankar’s comments come as the relationship between the two countries remains frosty over allegations that Indian agents were connected to the murder of Khalistani Hardeep Singh Nijjar in Canada on June 18 last year. Speaking in Canadian Parliament in September, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said there were “credible allegations” that Indian agents were behind Nijjar’s murder, something which India termed “absurd”.

In November, the United States Department of Justice indicted a senior Indian intelligence official, along with an Indian national Nikhil Gupta, of planning and directing a plot to kill Khalistan separatist Gurpatwant Singh Pannun in New York. The US indictment said the Indian official sent a video of Nijjar’s bloodied body to Gupta, who wrote back saying he wished he had conducted the killing.

In the aftermath of the US indictment, the government instituted a high-level inquiry into the matter. Speaking in Parliament in December, Jaishankar said there was “no question” of treating the US and Canada allegations equitably as the US had provided inputs, while Canada had not.

Replying to a question in the Rajya Sabha, Jaishankar had said, “Insofar as the US is concerned, certain inputs were given to us as part of our security cooperation with the United States. Those inputs were of concern to us because they related to the nexus of organised crime, trafficking and other matters. Because it has a bearing on our own national security, it was decided to institute an inquiry into the matter and an inquiry committee has been constituted. Insofar as Canada is concerned, no specific evidence or inputs were provided to us. So the question of equitable treatment to two countries, one of whom has provided inputs and one of whom has not, does not arise.”