Trudeau on Wednesday acknowledged that he had not provided India with concrete proof regarding Nijjar's killing on Canadian soil while testifying before the Public Inquiry into Foreign Interference in Federal Electoral Processes and Democratic Institutions in Ottawa
India on Thursday reacted to Justin Trudeau’s “admission” in Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar’s killing and said that the Canada PM’s statement “would indicate the value as regards the Indian government’s stance on the allegations”.
Trudeau on Wednesday acknowledged that he had not provided India with concrete proof regarding Nijjar’s killing on Canadian soil while testifying before the Public Inquiry into Foreign Interference in Federal Electoral Processes and Democratic Institutions in Ottawa.
The relations between the two countries took an ugly turn when Trudeau, earlier this week, reiterated his claim linking Indian diplomats with Nijjar’s killing that later led to both countries expelling each other’s diplomats.
Addressing a press conference today, MEA Spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal rejected the Canadian’s government allegations against Indian diplomats.
“Yesterday again, after the public hearing, we had issued a statement saying that Canada has levelled serious allegations but has so far not given any evidence to back it up. I would allude to the statement made by the State Department; we would say that as far as the allegations are concerned, PM Trudeau’s own admission yesterday would indicate the value as regards our stance on the allegations. We will naturally reject false imputations against our diplomats,” said Jaiswal.
VIDEO | “We have made our position very clear on this matter, several press releases have been issued in the last two days putting out our position which is very clear that since September 2023, the Canadian government has not shared any shred of information with us. Yesterday… pic.twitter.com/fFBk5SMCOB— Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) October 17, 2024
The MEA said that India-Canada economic ties are very strong and vibrant but the current issue has been precipitated by Trudeau government’s baseless allegations.
“We have large Indian diaspora in Canada which is a bridge through which we maintain strong people-to-people links with Canada. We have possibly the largest cohort of international students in Canada as well,” he adds.
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Trudeau Admits Canada Had No Hard Evidence Linking India To Nijjar Killing
Referring to the allegations he levelled against India, linking ‘Indian agents’ to the murder of Nijjar outside a gurdwara in Canada’s Surrey, Trudeau said, “And at that point it was primarily intelligence, not hard evidentiary proof.”
Trudeau had earlier claimed that he has ‘credible evidence’ that India played a role in the murder of Nijjar. He also said he had asked the Indian intelligence community to look into it later and said it was initially thought to be a ‘gang-related’ issue.
(With PTI inputs)
