“Provided intelligence to India not hard evidentiary proof,” says Justin Trudeau on Nijjar killing

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Wednesday said that his government had not provided India with hard evidence but just intelligence regarding the killing of Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar on Canadian soil.

Testifying at Canada’s foreign interference inquiry, Trudeau said India has been insisting on evidence over allegations levelled by Canada.

“Behind the scenes (were trying) India to co-operate with us. Their ask was…give us the evidence you have on us. Our response was it is within your security agency. You should be looking into how much they know, you should be engaging… ‘No, no but show us the evidence’. At that point, it was primarily intelligence, not hard evidentiary proof. So we said let’s work together…,” he said.

The ties between India and Canada soured after Trudeau alleged in the Canadian Parliament last year that he has “credible allegations” of India’s hand in the killing of Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar.

India has denied all the allegations, calling them “absurd” and “motivated” and has accused Canada of giving space to extremist and anti-India elements in their country. Nijjar, who was designated a terrorist by India’s National Investigation Agency in 2020, was shot and killed outside a Gurdwara in Surrey in June last year.

Trudeau also said during foreign interference inquiry that Canadians who are opponents of Modi government , their information was passed to the Indian government at the highest level and then “information directed through criminal organisations like the Lawrence Bishnoi gang resulted in violence against Canadians on the ground”.

“We wanted to question Indian diplomats but they did not wave their diplomatic immunity which is why we had to ask them to leave,” he said.

Trudeau said over the course of summer he was apprised by intelligence services “that govt was involved in the killing of Nijjar, there was not an obvious immediate international nexus”

“In August, intelligence from Canada and The Five Eyes made it clear that India was involved…agents from India were involved on Canadian soil and told them we have real concerns that your security agencies are involved. India’s response to our investigation was to double down on attacks against our government…We told India it is not hard evidence but it is just intelligence at that point…India undermined our government and governance…These were clear indications that India has violated our sovereignty,” he alleged.

India on Monday expelled six Canadian diplomats hours after it summoned Canada’s Charge d’Affaires Stewart Wheeler and conveyed that the “baseless targeting” of the Indian High Commissioner and other diplomats and officials in Canada was completely unacceptable.

MEA said earlier that it was underlined to the Canada’s Charge d’Affaires that in an atmosphere of extremism and violence, the Trudeau Government’s actions endangered their safety and the government had decided to withdraw India’s High Commissioner to Canada Sanjay Kumar Verma and other targeted diplomats and officials.

The Indian government conveyed that India reserves the right to take further steps in response to the “Trudeau Government’s support for extremism, violence and separatism against India”.

“Canadian Charge d’Affaires was summoned by Secretary (East) this evening. He was informed that the baseless targeting of the Indian High Commissioner and other diplomats and officials in Canada was completely unacceptable,” the MEA release said.

“It was underlined that in an atmosphere of extremism and violence, the Trudeau Government’s actions endangered their safety. We have no faith in the current Canadian Government’s commitment to ensure their security. Therefore, the Government of India has decided to withdraw the High Commissioner and other targeted diplomats and officials,” it added.News reports citing Canadian government source had said that Canada has expelled six Indian diplomats after police collected evidence they were part of an Indian government “campaign of violence”.

Amid worsening ties between the two countries, India had earlier on Monday “strongly” rejected a diplomatic communication from Canada suggesting that the Indian High Commissioner and other diplomats were “persons of interest” in an investigation and termed it as “preposterous imputations” and part of the political agenda of the Justin Trudeau government.

In a hard-hitting statement, India said Prime Minister Trudeau’s hostility to India has long been in evidence and his government has consciously provided space to violent extremists and terrorists “to harass, threaten and intimidate Indian diplomats and community leaders in Canada.”

“We have received a diplomatic communication from Canada yesterday suggesting that the Indian High Commissioner and other diplomats are ‘persons of interest’ in a matter related to an investigation in that country. 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.

“Since Prime Minister Trudeau made certain allegations in September 2023, the Canadian Government has not shared a shred of evidence with the Government of India, despite many requests from our side. 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,” it added.