This comes four months after Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau claimed that there was “credible intelligence” connecting Indian government agents to the June 2023 murder of Hardeep Singh Nijjar, who was designated a terrorist by India.
The Foreign Interference Commission was notably established in September, the same month that the prime minister of Canada visited India for the G20 meeting and subsequently made the shocking accusation in the Nijjar case.
The commission was initially looking into claims of Russian and Chinese meddling, but India has now been brought into the controversy.
Source: Deccan Herald
The revelation is expected to deteriorate Canada-India relations, which have been strained in recent months due to Ottawa’s baseless claims that New Delhi was involved in the murder of Nijjar.
India has promised to assist the investigators and has made multiple requests for “specific and relevant information,” but Canada has remained evasive. The probe is opaque and cloaked in secrecy. The Globe and Mail, Canada’s top daily, stated last month that two individuals who were suspected of committing the murder would probably be taken into custody shortly.
The article further stated that the two had been under police monitoring for months and had not left Canada following the killing. The next course of action, if any, hasn’t been disclosed to the public yet.
Source; Mirror Now
The number of study permits that Canada has granted to Indian students has significantly decreased, as Canadian Immigration Minister Marc Miller recently acknowledged. This decline was caused by diplomatic tensions. Ottawa has the responsibility to end the impasse; if it doesn’t, bilateral trade could suffer as well.
Canada, which has always treated terrorists and religious separatists with kid gloves, ought to hold off on criticising India until it has solid, independent proof to back up its claims. A lack of openness will only make the two thriving democracies’ mistrust worse.
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