Amid a raging diplomatic row with India over the killing of a Khalistani terrorist, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said on Thursday that Ottawa is not looking to “provoke or cause problems” with New Delhi and urged it to work together to “uncover the truth.” Trudeau made these remarks on the sidelines of the 78th session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York.
When asked about the diplomatic row between India and Canada, he said, “We call upon the government of India to take seriously this matter and to work with us to shed full transparency and ensure accountability and justice in this matter.” “We are a country of the rule of law. We are going to continue to do the work necessary to keep Canadians safe and to uphold our values and the international rules-based order. That’s our focus right now,” Trudeau added.
On measures taken by his government following India’s suspension of visa services for Canadians, Trudeau said that his government was not looking to provoke or cause problems. “There is no question that India is a country of growing importance and a country that we need to continue to work with, not just in the region but around the world. We’re not looking to provoke or cause problems. But we are unequivocal around the importance of the rule of law and unequivocal about the importance of protecting Canadians.
“That’s why we call upon the government of India, to work with us to establish processes to discover and to uncover the truth of the matter and to allow justice and accountability to be served,” he said.
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Tensions flared between India and Canada early this week following Trudeau’s explosive allegations of “potential” involvement of Indian agents in the killing of Khalistani extremist Hardeep Singh Nijjar on his country’s soil on June 18 in British Columbia. India had designated Nijjar as a terrorist in 2020.
India 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. “I’m saying and repeating what I said on Monday afternoon. Of course, there are credible allegations that we need to take extremely seriously…,” Trudeau asserted when asked if the evidence suggested by him in the matter was extensive.
“There are credible reasons to believe that agents of the government of India were involved in the killing of a Canadian on Canadian soil,” he said, repeating his allegation. “We have a rigorous and independent justice system and robust processes that will follow their course. We call upon the government of India to engage with us to move forward on getting to the truth of this matter,” he said.
Responding to another question, Trudeau said he had “a direct and frank conversation” with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the sidelines of the New Delhi G20 summit on September 10 in which he shared his “concerns in no uncertain terms.” The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) earlier this week said that allegations made by the Canadian Prime Minister to Prime Minister Modi were completely rejected.
Responding to another question, Trudeau said it’s extremely important that as a country with a strong and independent justice system, we allow those justice processes to unfold themselves with the utmost integrity. “The decision to share these allegations on the floor of the House of Commons Monday morning was not done lightly. It was done with utmost seriousness..,” Trudeau said.