India dismisses Canada’s move to link envoy to case related to Nijjar killing

India on Monday dismissed as “preposterous” Canada’s decision to designate the Indian envoy and several other diplomats in Ottawa as “persons of interest” in an investigation into the killing of pro-Khalistan activist Hardeep Singh Nijjar last year.

The external affairs ministry said in a statement that it received a diplomatic communication from Canada on Sunday “suggesting that the Indian High Commissioner and other diplomats are ‘persons of interest’ in a matter related to an investigation in that country”.

While the ministry didn’t give specifics about the investigation, people familiar with the matter said on condition of anonymity that the matter was related to the killing of Nijjar, who was gunned down by unidentified men outside a gurdwara in Surrey in June 2023.

“The Government of India strongly rejects these preposterous imputations and ascribes them to the political agenda of the Trudeau Government that is centered around vote bank politics,” the statement said.

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The statement noted high commissioner Sanjay Verma is India’s senior-most serving diplomat with a career spanning 36 years, during which he has been ambassador to Japan and Sudan and also served in Italy, Turkiye, Vietnam and China. “The aspersions cast on him by the Government of Canada are ludicrous and deserve to be treated with contempt,” it said.

The Indian side “reserves the right to take further steps in response to these latest efforts of the Canadian Government to concoct allegations against Indian diplomats”, the statement said, hinting at possible retaliation to the Canadian move.

“Person of interest” is a term used by law enforcement in the US and Canada for a person possibly linked to an investigation who has not been arrested or formally accused of any crime. It is usually used to refer to someone whom law enforcement personnel are interested in because they may have information that could assist the investigation.

Bilateral relations have been in freefall since Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau alleged in Parliament in September 2023 that Indian government agents were linked to the death of Nijjar. India had rejected the accusation as “absurd”.

The statement said that since Trudeau made the allegations last September, the Canadian government “has not shared a shred of evidence with the Government of India, despite many requests from our side”.

It added: “This latest step follows interactions that have again witnessed assertions without any facts. This leaves little doubt that on the pretext of an investigation, there is a deliberate strategy of smearing India for political gains.”

Following a brief encounter between Trudeau and Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the margins of the recent Asean Summit in Laos, the Indian side told top Canadian officials that Ottawa cannot make unsubstantiated charges against the Indian government for the murder of Nijjar without producing evidence, according to the people cited above.

Trudeau said he had a “brief exchange” with Modi but the Indian side made it clear there was no substantive discussion between them.

The external affairs ministry’s statement, which was worded in a unusually strong manner, said Trudeau’s “hostility to India has long been in evidence”.

“His Cabinet has included individuals who have openly associated with an extremist and separatist agenda regarding India. His naked interference in Indian internal politics in December 2020 showed how far he was willing to go in this regard,” the statement said.

“That his Government was dependent on a political party, whose leader openly espouses a separatist ideology vis-à-vis India, only aggravated matters,” the statement said, in an apparent reference to New Democratic Party leader Jagmeet Singh, who has openly backed the cause of Khalistan and targeted India on numerous occasions.

The Trudeau government, facing criticism for turning a “blind eye to foreign interference” in Canadian politics, has “deliberately brought in India in an attempt to mitigate the damage”, the statement said.

The Indian side contended the latest move by the Trudeau government was tied to his appearance before a Canadian commission investigating foreign interference in domestic politics and the backing of an “anti-India” agenda for securing the backing of Khalistani elements.

“This latest development targeting Indian diplomats is now the next step in that direction. It is no coincidence that it takes place as Prime Minister Trudeau is to depose before a Commission on foreign interference. It also serves the anti-India separatist agenda that the Trudeau Government has constantly pandered to for narrow political gains,” the statement said.

The statement noted that Trudeau’s visit to India in 2018, “which was aimed at currying favour with a vote bank, rebounded to his discomfort”.

The statement reiterated the Indian side’s allegation that the Trudeau government has “consciously provided space to violent extremists and terrorists to harass, threaten and intimidate Indian diplomats and community leaders in Canada”. This has included death threats to the Indian diplomats and leaders.

“All these activities have been justified in the name of freedom of speech. Some individuals who have entered Canada illegally have been fast-tracked for citizenship. Multiple extradition requests from the Government of India in respect of terrorists and organised crime leaders living in Canada have been disregarded,” the statement said.

The Indian government has “taken cognisance of the activities of the Canadian High Commission in India that serve the political agenda of the current regime” and this led to the implementation of the principle of reciprocity in regard to diplomatic representation, the statement said, referring a decision by New Delhi last year that forced Ottawa to withdraw 41 diplomats from India.