India hits out at ‘cavalier’ Trudeau as rift with Canada deepens
Al Jazeera
Canadian PM said India made ‘horrific mistake’ by violating country’s sovereignty as relations plunge to new low.
India has accused Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau of “cavalier behaviour” amid the ongoing diplomatic fallout over last year’s murder of a Sikh separatist on Canadian soil.
India’s Ministry of External Affairs said on Thursday that Canada had presented “no evidence whatsoever” to support its “serious allegations” that Indian government agents had targeted Canada-based Sikh separatists, including naturalised Canadian citizen Hardeep Singh Nijjar, murdered in Vancouver in June 2023.
The ministry hit out at Trudeau, who said during a parliamentary inquiry on Wednesday that Canada had “clear … indications that India had violated Canada’s sovereignty”.
The prime minister’s behaviour had caused “damage” to India-Canada relations, the ministry said.
Speaking at the inquiry, Trudeau accused India of making a “horrific mistake”, alleging Nijjar’s murder was part of an extensive Indian operation to systematically target Sikh dissidents inside Canada campaigning for an independent Khalistani state.
