‘Speculative’, ‘inaccurate’: Canada denies links between killing of Nijjar and PM Modi, Jaishankar and Doval
New Delhi/ Ottawa: The Canadian government has refuted a media report alleging the involvement of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, and National Security Advisor Ajit Doval in a plot against a Sikh separatist Hardeep Singh Nijjar. Nathalie G Drouin, the Canadian Prime Minister’s National Security and Intelligence Advisor, called the report “speculative and inaccurate” on Thursday, a day after India had already condemned it as a “smear campaign”.
Quoting an unnamed senior national security official, The Globe and Mail newspaper on Tuesday reported that Canadian security agencies believe Prime Minister Modi knew about the killing of Nijjar and other violent plots. The official said Canadian and American intelligence tied the assassination operations to Home Affairs Minister Amit Shah. Also in the loop, the official said, was Doval and Jaishankar.
In a statement issued by the Privy Council Office on Thursday, Drouin said, “On October 14th, because of a significant and ongoing threat to public safety, the RCMP and officials took the extraordinary step of making public accusations of serious criminal activity in Canada perpetrated by agents of the Government of India.”
However, he said, “The Government of Canada has not stated, nor is it aware of evidence, linking Prime Minister Modi, Minister Jaishankar, or NSA Doval to the serious criminal activity within Canada. Any suggestion to the contrary is both speculative and inaccurate.”
In a press conference on Oct 14, Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) Commissioner Mike Duheme warned of widespread violence, homicides and a public security threat linked to “agents” of the Indian government.
Hours after Duheme’s conference, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau told reporters, “I believe that India has made a monumental mistake by choosing to use their diplomats and organised crime to attack Canadians, to make them feel unsafe here at (their) home, and even more, to create acts of violence and even murder. It’s unacceptable.”
On Oct 26, Canadian Deputy Foreign Affairs Minister David Morrison alleged that Indian Home Minister Shah ordered a campaign of violence, intimidation and intelligence-gathering targeting Sikh separatists inside Canada.
In New Delhi on Wednesday, referring to The Globe and Mail report, External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said such “ludicrous statements” should be dismissed with the contempt they deserve and “smear campaigns like this only further damage our already strained ties”.
India-Canada ties remain deeply troubled over Canada’s alleged support to Khalistani separatists and its accusation of India’s involvement in the killing of Nijjar, who was gunned down in Surrey, British Columbia in June last year.
