‘Gotten stories wrong’: Canada’s PM describes leaking of info linking Modi to Nijjar plot as ‘criminal’, ‘unreliable’
India-Canada ties worsened in October after Canada linked 6 diplomats and officials, including High Commissioner Sanjay Verma, to violent criminal activities
Toronto: Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has described as “unreliable” and a result of a “criminal’s leaking”, a report in Canadian media recently that linked his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi and two other senior officials, to the killing of pro-Khalistan figure Hardeep Singh Nijjar last year.
During an interaction with the media in Brampton on Friday, Trudeau said, “We have seen, unfortunately, that criminals leaking top secret information to the media has consistently gotten those stories wrong. That’s why we had a national inquiry into foreign interference that has highlighted that the criminals leaking information to media outlets are unreliable on top of being criminal.”
That followed a statement from Canada’s National Security and Intelligence Adviser (NSIA) Nathalie G Drouin on Thursday that Ottawa was not aware of any such link.
In that statement, Drouin said, “The Government of Canada has not stated, nor is it aware of evidence, linking Prime Minister (Narendra) Modi, (External Affairs) Minister (S) Jaishankar, or NSA (Ajit) Doval to the serious criminal activity within Canada.”
She added: “Any suggestion to the contrary is both speculative and inaccurate.”
Drouin’s latest statement was in response to an article that appeared in the daily Globe and Mail on Tuesday, which cited an unnamed senior national security official in this regard. The statement was issued by the Privy Council Office. Drouin is also Deputy Clerk of the Privy Council, which is akin to India’s Cabinet Secretariat.
Drouin’s clarification came a day after India trashed as a “smear campaign” the Globe and Mail report claiming Modi was aware of the alleged plot to kill Khalistani separatist Nijjar.
External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said they do not normally comment on media reports but such ludicrous statements made to a newspaper purportedly by a Canadian government source should be dismissed with the contempt they deserve. He added smear campaigns like this only further damage already strained ties.
India-Canada ties worsened in October after Canada linked six diplomats and officials including High Commissioner Sanjay Verma to violent criminal activity in the country. India rejected the allegations and recalled Verma and the other five officials. India expelled six Canadian diplomats including acting High Commissioner Stewart Wheeler.
Those allegations were preceded by Global Affairs Canada sending a communique to New Delhi seeking waivers on diplomatic immunity of six Indian officials stationed in Canada, as they were “persons of interest” in cases related to violent criminal activity.
Nijjar was killed on June 18 last year in Surrey, British Columbia.
Trudeau’s allegations in September 2023 linking Indian government agents with Nijjar’s murder sparked tensions between New Delhi and Ottawa. Bilateral ties worsened after New Delhi dismissed as “preposterous” Canada’s move to question six Indian officials, including Verma, in connection with violent criminal activity in the country.
Following the withdrawal of the diplomats, in October, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) levelled charges alleging a connection between violent criminal activity in the country with New Delhi.
That was alluded to in Drouin’s statement on Thursday, which said, “On October 14th, because of a significant and ongoing threat to public safety, the RCMP and officials took the extraordinary step of making public accusations of serious criminal activity in Canada perpetrated by agents of the Government of India.”
