Prime Minister Justin Trudeau mentioned on Monday that “brokers of the Indian authorities” carried out the killing of a Sikh group chief in British Columbia final June.
Talking within the Home of Commons, Mr. Trudeau mentioned that he raised India’s involvement within the shooting of Hardeep Singh Nijjar straight with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the Group of 20 summit assembly earlier this month “in no unsure phrases.” He mentioned the allegation was based mostly on intelligence gathered by the Canadian authorities.
“Any involvement of a overseas authorities within the killing of a Canadian citizen on Canadian soil is an unacceptable violation of our sovereignty,” Mr. Trudeau informed lawmakers. He mentioned Canada would stress India to cooperate with the investigation into the killing.
Mélanie Joly, the overseas minister, later introduced that Canada had expelled an Indian diplomat whom she described as “the pinnacle” of Indian intelligence in Canada.
Mr. Trudeau mentioned that the big group of Canadians of Indian origin had been angered by the killing and in some circumstances feared for his or her private security. There are an estimated 1.4 to 1.8 million Canadians of Indian heritage, lots of whom are Sikhs. Their numbers embrace Jagmeet Singh, the chief of the opposition New Democratic Celebration, which is preserving Mr. Trudeau’s minority authorities in energy.
The allegation that India’s authorities was concerned in a calculated killing in Canada is prone to additional corrode the already strained relations between the 2 nations. Earlier this month, Canada suspended negotiations on a commerce cope with India that had been scheduled to have been concluded this yr. and through the G20, Mr. Modi excluded Mr. Trudeau from the record of leaders with whom he held formal bilateral conferences.
Mr. Nijjar, 45, was shot close to a Sikh temple in Surrey, British Columbia. Investigators from the Royal Canadian Mounted Police mentioned he was ambushed by masked males, however wouldn’t reveal whether or not the assault appeared politically motivated.
However Mr. Nijjar was recognized for his advocacy of the creation of an unbiased Sikh nation, Khalistan, that would come with components of India’s Punjab state, and India had declared him a needed terrorist.
“If these allegations are true, they symbolize an outrageous affront to Canada’s sovereignty,” mentioned Pierre Poilievre, chief of the Conservative Celebration. “Our residents should be protected from extrajudicial killings of all types, most of all from overseas governments.”
