News Brief
Nishtha Anushree
Oct 14, 2024, 03:27 PM | Updated Oct 18, 2024, 04:06 PM IST
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India strongly rejected Canada's allegations that the Indian High Commissioner Sanjay Kumar Verma and other diplomats are ‘persons of interest’ in the murder case of Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar.
"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.
India alleged that the Canadian government has 'not shared a shred of evidence' in the Nijjar case since Prime Minister Trudeau's allegations in September last year, despite many requests.
Asserting that the allegations are not based on any facts, India said, "This leaves little doubt that on the pretext of an investigation, there is a deliberate strategy of smearing India for political gains."
India also called out the presence of those individuals in the Trudeau cabinet who have openly associated with an extremist and separatist agenda regarding India and his hostility to India.
India alleged, "The Trudeau Government has consciously provided space to violent extremists and terrorists to harass, threaten and intimidate Indian diplomats and community leaders in Canada."
Applauding Indian High Commissioner Sanjay Kumar Verma, the statement said that he is India’s senior most serving diplomat with a distinguished career spanning 36 years.
"He has been Ambassador in Japan and Sudan, while also serving in Italy, Turkiye, Vietnam and China. The aspersions cast on him by Canada are ludicrous and deserve to be treated with contempt," the statement said.
"This latest development targeting Indian diplomats is now the next step in that direction... It also serves the anti-India separatist agenda that the Trudeau government has constantly pandered to for narrow political gains," it added.
Nishtha Anushree is Senior Sub-editor at Swarajya. She tweets at @nishthaanushree.