Toronto: Canadian journalist Daniel Bordman referred to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s statement that the facts are not concrete but are based on intelligence in the case of the Khalistan issue as a major victory for the Indian narrative.
This is a pretty big win for the Indian narrative right now. From the Canadian perspective, we had gone pretty hard. We had gone to the point where we had kicked out a diplomat. We had named the Indian High Commission. We started this publicly.
The Canadian journalist added that the diplomatic row between India and Canada hinges on whether Hardeep Singh Nijjar is a Khalistani terrorist or a community activist.
“On the geopolitical technicality aspect, India wins here because you never said you had evidence. But what does it change from the grand structures of things? Ultimately, the diplomatic spat is really about the unanswered question, was Hardeep Singh Nijjar a Khalistani terrorist or a community activist? And that general disagreement has not moved,” Bordman added.
It was Bordman who also pounced upon the statement by Trudeau, “Canada’s position has always been to defend the territorial integrity of India”, asserting that his words don’t go well with his action.
“Trudeau says things and then Trudeau does things. Often times, what Trudeau says he is doing does not match with the reality of what he is doing. He might claim that he is against Khalistani separatism but he would also promote Khalistani separatism. Do not think it outlandish to assume that he is being dishonest when he says he is doing something when he is not doing that thing. This is a common Justin Trudeau thing which leads back to his scandals and unpopularity., ” Bordman said.
Notably, on Wednesday, Trudeau had said that his government had not provided India with hard evidence but just intelligence regarding the killing of Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar on Canadian soil.
Testifying before Canada’s foreign interference inquiry, Trudeau said India has been insisting on evidence over allegations levelled by Canada.
“Behind the scenes (were trying) India to co-operate with us. Their ask was.give us the evidence you have on us. Our response was it is within your security agency. You should be looking into how much they know, you should be engaging. ‘No, no but show us the evidence’. At that point, it was primarily intelligence, not hard evidentiary proof. So we said let’s work together., ” he said.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of External Affairs countered Trudeau’s statement by saying that Justin Trudeau “only confirms” what India has been saying “consistently all along”.
The MEA also attributed the damage in India-Canada relations to Trudeau’s “cavalier behaviour”. “What we have heard today only confirms what we have been saying consistently all along – Canada has presented us no evidence whatsoever in support of the serious allegations that it has chosen to level against India and Indian diplomats,” said MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal in an official statement early morning in response to Trudeau’s comment on Wednesday.
“The onus of damage this cavalier behavior has done to India-Canada relations solely lies on Prime Minister Trudeau,” Jaiswal added.
Relations between India and Canada worsened after the prime minister of the latter alleged before the Canadian Parliament last year that he has “credible allegations” regarding India’s involvement in the killing of Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar.India has dismissed all the accusations as “absurd” and “motivated” and has accused Canada of allowing extremist and anti-India elements to flourish in their country.
Nijjar, whom India’s National Investigation Agency had designated a terrorist in 2020 was shot and killed outside Gurdwara outside Surrey last June.
The row between Canada and India occurred following Canada labeling the High Commissioner of India and other diplomats involved as “persons of interest” in the investigation into Nijjar’s death.
India on Monday expelled six Canadian diplomats hours after it summoned Canada’s Charge d’Affaires Stewart Wheeler and conveyed that the “baseless targeting” of the Indian High Commissioner and other diplomats and officials in Canada was completely unacceptable.
MEA had already said that it was made clear to the Charge d’Affaires of Canada that in an environment of radicalism and terror, the actions of the Trudeau Government pose a threat to their security and the government has decided to recall India’s High Commissioner to Canada Sanjay Kumar Verma and other targeted diplomats and officials.
The Indian government stated that India has the right to take further steps in response to the “Trudeau Government’s support for extremism, violence, and separatism against India.”