Canadian Defence Minister Bill Blair has called Canada’s relationship with India “important”, and said his country will continue to pursue partnerships like the Indo-Pacific strategy while the investigation of the killing of Khalistani extremist Hardeep Singh Nijjar continues.
Canada had been seeking deeper trade, defence, and immigration ties with India before the “credible intelligence,” as Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau called it, was first raised with Canadian officials, Global News reported.
In an interview aired on Sunday on The West Block, Blair suggested Canada will continue to pursue those partnerships while the investigation into allegations continues.
WHAT BLAIR SAID?
“We understand that this can be, and has proven to be, a challenging issue with respect to our relationship with India,” he was quoted as saying by Global News.
“But at the same time, we have a responsibility to defend the law, defend our citizens, and at the same time make sure that we conduct a thorough investigation and get to the truth,” he said.
If the allegations are proven true, Blair said “there is a very significant concern that Canada will have with respect to the violation of our sovereignty in the murder of a Canadian citizen on Canadian soil.”
The Minister further noted that the Indo-Pacific strategy was still a critical one for Canada and has led to an increased military presence in the region and commitments for further patrol capabilities.
Notably, the Indo-Pacific strategy commits USD 492.9 million over five years toward those military priorities, out of a total of nearly USD 2.3 billion over the same period.
INDIA-CANADA DIPLOMATIC ISSUE
Tensions flared between India and Canada following Trudeau’s explosive allegations of Indian agents’ “potential” involvement in the killing of Sikh separatist leader Nijjar on his country’s soil on June 18 in British Columbia.
India had designated 45-year-old Nijjar, the chief of the banned Khalistan Tiger Force (KTF), as a terrorist in 2020.
India has rejected the allegations as “absurd” and “motivated” and expelled a senior Canadian diplomat in a tit-for-tat move to Ottawa’s expulsion of an Indian official over the case.
On Thursday, India asked Canada to come down hard on terrorists and anti-India elements operating from its soil and suspended visa services for Canadians, as escalating tensions between the two nations over the killing of Nijjar pushed their ties to an all-time low. It also accused Canada of being a safe haven for terrorists.
India also asked Canada to downsize its diplomatic staff in the country, arguing that there should be parity in strength and rank equivalence in the mutual diplomatic presence. The size of Canadian diplomatic staff in India is larger than what New Delhi has in Canada.
Meanwhile, the United Hindu Front on Sunday held a protest against the Canadian PM at Delhi’s Jantar Mantar, expressing their disapproval of Trudeau’s alleged support and protection of anti-India Khalistanis.
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, who is in New York, also took a veiled dig at Canada. Speaking at a ministerial session titled ‘South Rising: Partnerships, Institutions and Ideas’ hosted by the Observer Research Foundation, Jaishankar said that it is still a world of “double standards” and those countries which are occupying positions of influence are resisting the pressure to change.
“In the name of the market, a lot of things are done, like in the name of freedom, a lot of things are done,” he said, hinting at Trudeau’s statements defending pro-Khalistan activities in Canada by citing freedom of speech.
In Canada, however, posters calling for the killing of Indian diplomats at a Gurdwara in Surrey were taken down after local authorities intervened amid Ottawa’s plummeting ties with India. According to sources, the Surrey Gurdwara was asked to remove the posters calling for the killing of three Indian diplomats after authorities realised the magnitude of the issue and the optics of such messaging originating from Canadian soil.
INDIA MULLS TO CANCEL OCI CARDS OF KHALISTANI TERRORISTS
After the National Investigation Agency (NIA) confiscated the properties of Canada-based ‘designated individual terrorist’ Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, it is learnt that the government has asked the investigative agencies to identify the properties of other terrorists wanted in India sitting abroad.
Sources privy to the matter said that the government has asked the agencies to identify the properties of the terrorists settled abroad.