NEW DELHI: The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said on Thursday that India had requested Canada to arrest members of the Lawrence Bishnoi gang but it did not act on New Delhi’s “core concerns”.
The MEA also rejected “false imputations against our diplomats” made by Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
“We had shared some requests with the Canadian side for the arrest of those from Lawrence Bishnoi’s gang. They haven’t taken any action on our core concerns. There is a political motive also behind this,” MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said during a weekly media briefing.
Jaiswal said that similar extradition requests of syndicates linked to the Bishnoi gang were made recently as well, but Canada has not responded yet. The MEA gave names of Gurjit Singh, Gurjinder Singh, Arshdeep Singh Gill, Lakhbir Singh Landa, Gurpreet Singh for extradition, saying that the members of the Bishnoi gang were among them.
“We informed Canada about the Lawrence Bishnoi gang and its syndicates and requested their provisional arrest and extradition some years back, and also recently. However, there has been no response from Canada so far”, the spokesperson said.
Jaiswal reiterated that Canada did not share any evidence in connection with the killing of Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar.
Acknowledging that he had no “hard evidentiary proof” and had only intelligence when Canada alleged the involvement of Indian government agents in the killing of Khalistani separatist Hardeep Singh Nijjar last year, Justin Trudeau on Wednesday said there were “clear indications” that India had violated Canadian sovereignty.
Referring to Trudeau’s admission, the MEA reiterated that Canada hasn’t shared a shred of evidence with New Delhi proving Indian agents’ involvement in the murder.
“We have made our position very clear on this particular matter. You would have seen that several press releases have been issued in the last two days putting out our position, and we are very clear that since September of 2023, the Canadian government has not shared any shred of information with us.
Yesterday, again, after the public inquiry, and public hearing again, issued a statement saying that Canada has given serious allegations but has so far not
given any evidence to back it up...as far as the allegations are concerned, PM Trudeau’s own admission, yesterday would decade the value as regards are stands...we reject false imputations against our diplomats,” the spokesperson said.
The ministry said, “The responsibility for the damage that this cavalier behaviour has caused to India-Canada relations lies
with Prime Minister Trudeau alone.” The MEA also said that Canada always brought forth ‘freedom of speech’ as their argument whenever India sought action against anti-India and separatist elements.
Testifying before the public inquiry into foreign interference in federal electoral processes and democratic institutions, Trudeau claimed the Indian diplomats were collecting information on Canadians who are in disagreement with the Narendra Modi government and passing it to the highest levels within the Indian government and criminal organisations like the Lawrence Bishnoi gang.
India strongly rejected attempts by the Canadian authorities to link Indian agents with criminal gangs in Canada with official sources in New Delhi even saying that Ottawa’s assertion that it shared evidence with New Delhi in the Nijjar case was simply not true.
India earlier on Monday expelled six Canadian diplomats and also announced withdrawing its high commissioner from Canada after dismissing Ottawa’s allegations linking the envoy to a probe into the killing of Nijjar.
The diplomatic row has further escalated tensions between India and Canada who have seen their bilateral ties hitting a new low.
India has been maintaining that the main issue between the two countries is that of Canada giving space to pro-Khalistan elements operating from Canadian soil with impunity. Nijjar, who was declared a terrorist by India, was shot dead outside a Gurdwara in Surrey, British Columbia, in June last year. with agency inputs