Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Wednesday that the Canadian government has “hard evidence” that Indian agents were behind the murder of Sikh separatist Hardeep Singh Nijjar in Vancouver in June 2023. I admitted that there is no.
Prime Minister Trudeau made the comments before the Canadian Foreign Interference Commission. Establishment In 2023, amid a series of allegations that foreign governments such as China and Russia are interfering in Canadian politics.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau attends the Global Partnership for Infrastructure and Investment event at the G7 Summit in Borgo Ignazia, Italy on June 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
In September 2023, Prime Minister Trudeau publicly accused The Indian government is behind the assassination of Nijjar, a leading figure in the Sikh separatist Khalistan movement.
India, which considers the Khalistan movement a terrorist organization, dismissed Trudeau's claims as “absurd” and said he had provided no evidence to support them. The following year, a major diplomatic feud broke out between India and Canada. on Monday in each country. exiled 6 of the diplomats from other countries.
Prime Minister Trudeau is resisted They are calling on the public to reveal evidence of India's involvement. he said The Committee on Foreign Interference said on Wednesday that it had only “information” suggesting the order to kill Nijjar came from New Delhi, and that he had no “hard evidence”.
“Throughout the summer, I was informed by intelligence agencies that: [Indian] The government was involved in Mr. Nijjar's murder. “There were no obvious direct international connections,” he said.
Prime Minister Trudeau said that by August 2023, “information from Canada and the Five Eyes will reveal Indian involvement.” The Five Eyes intelligence partnership includes Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and the United States.
Prime Minister Trudeau said he believed “Indian agents were involved” in Nijjar's murder and formally expressed these concerns to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government.
“India has weakened our government and governance,” he charged. “These were clear signs that India had violated our sovereignty.”
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi speaks at an event in Uniondale, New York. September 22, 2024. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)
“India's response to our investigation was to redouble its attacks on our government,” he complained.
Prime Minister Trudeau accused the Modi government of gathering intelligence on dissidents living in Canada and contracting “criminal organizations like the Lawrence Bishnoi gang” to commit “violence against Canadians.” repeated.
Referring to Monday's expulsion of the diplomats, he said: “We wanted to interrogate the Indian diplomats, but since they did not waive their diplomatic immunity, we had no choice but to ask them to leave.”
Lawrence Bishnoi is a 31-year-old gang boss who has been imprisoned in India since 2015. Canadian police maintain that Bishnoi continues to direct an international network from prison, including acts of violence against leaders of the Khalistan movement.
Bishnoi indeed act It's as if he's still running an international crime syndicate from prison. He once threatened to kill a Bollywood actor during a press conference on the steps of a courthouse. Last March, he managed to give two media interviews inside a high-security prison in Punjab province, without the prison authorities ever knowing he was entertaining the press.
“He runs his gang seamlessly from prison without having to coordinate everything. He is thinking big, unlike other gangs who are confined to one area,” a senior Punjab police official said. spoke. said To this week's BBC.
India's Ministry of External Affairs on Thursday complained Canada's failure to take action against Bishnoi gangs despite India's repeated requests.
Foreign Ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal suggested there were “political motives” behind Canada's lack of action. He said India has 26 extradition requests pending against Canada, some dating back several years.
Jaiswal also noted that Trudeau acknowledged that no hard evidence regarding Nijjar's murder had been shared with the Indian government.
“We have made our position clear on this particular issue. Several press releases have been issued in the last two days making our position clear, but from September 2023 onwards, “It's clear that the Canadian government is not sharing any information with us,” he said.
Jaiswal rejected Prime Minister Trudeau's claim that six Indian diplomats were expelled from Canada for not waiving their diplomatic immunity to answer questions about their possible involvement in Nijjar's murder.
“We withdrew our diplomats before Canada could take any action. Canada did not share a single piece of evidence with India before making its allegations against the Indian High Commissioner and other diplomats.” he said.
“We reject the false implication against our diplomats. Canada has not shared any evidence with us,” he concluded.
