New Delhi:
Amid repeatedly deteriorating ties, Exterior Affairs Ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal stated a Canadian report claiming Prime Minister Narendra Modi was conscious of the plot to kill Sikh separatist Hardeep Singh Nijjar was a “smear marketing campaign”.
Canada’s Globe and Mail newspaper report quoted unnamed Canadian officers to say Mr Modi was conscious of plot to kill the Khalistani activist. The report claimed the Indian nationwide safety advisor and the exterior affairs minister have been additionally within the loop of the plot.
In response, Mr Jaiswal stated, “Such ludicrous statements made to a newspaper purportedly by a Canadian authorities supply ought to be dismissed with the contempt they deserve. Smear campaigns like this solely additional injury our already strained ties.”
Khalistani terrorist and Canadian citizen Hardeep Singh Nijjar in Vancouver in June final yr, kickstarting a diplomatic disaster after Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau accused “brokers” of Delhi of being concerned. He claimed “credible data” had been shared with intelligence companions, together with the US.
Final month, Canada linked Indian Excessive Commissioner Sanjay Verma and another diplomats to the homicide. The Canadian authorities had stated the Indian diplomats have been expelled from the nation. In a tit-for-tat transfer, New Delhi expelled Canadian Cost d’Affaires Stewart Wheeler and 5 different diplomats.
“I believe it’s apparent the Authorities of India made a elementary error in pondering they might have interaction in supporting legal exercise in opposition to Canadians, right here on Canadian soil. Whether or not it’s murders or extortion or different violent acts, it’s completely unacceptable,” Mr Trudeau stated.
Nijjar – the mastermind behind banned terror outfit Khalistan Tiger Power – was on Delhi’s checklist of ‘most needed’ terrorists for a number of crimes, together with the homicide of Hindu priest in Punjab. Anti-terror company NIA had supplied a Rs 10 lakh reward for data resulting in his seize.