‘India rejects targeting of high commissioner’: Jaishankar slams Canada

External affairs minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar on Saturday slammed Canada for targeting the Indian high commissioner and diplomats by the Justin Trudeau government.

“We completely reject the manner in which the Canadian government targeted our High Commissioner and diplomats,” PTI quoted Jaishankar during an event in Pune on the subject ‘Emerging opportunities in the present global scenario’.

Jaishankar said that India will obviously take a tough position, which has been taken when its national interest, integrity and sovereignty are concerned.

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On October 13, the Canadian authorities declared Indian high commissioner Sanjay Verma as “person of interest” in their probe into the killing of Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar.

While condemning Canada's action, India recalled its high commissioner and also expelled six Canadian diplomats from the country.

Later, Sanjay Verma termed Canada's action on naming him as ‘person of interest’ as "kind of back-stabbing". “Declaring me a 'person of interest' by Canada came as a shock, a kind of back-stabbing,” he told PTI.

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On Canada, Jaishankar further said,"The issue is that there is a small minority of people over there but they have made themselves into what appears to be a bigger political voice."

"Unfortunately, the politics of that country is giving that political lobby, perhaps a degree of play which I would argue is not just bad for us and our relationship. I would argue it is bad for Canada itself," the minister added.

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‘India first raised presence of organised crime in Canada’: Jaishankar

Jaishankar said that India had first raised the presence of organised crime in the North American country, but the concerns were ignored. “We were telling them and they were not listening. It is happening because of a permissive atmosphere for a long time,” he said.

"I think this is an issue with a particular political phase or set of political forces. We would certainly hope that more sensible, more sober, more responsible asserts itself," Jaishankar added.