India on Saturday formally protested the Canadian government’s claims that the country’s powerful interior minister, Amit Shah, had ordered targeting of Sikh activists in Canada, calling them “absurd and baseless.”
Relations between the two countries soured last year after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said there was credible suspicion that the Indian government was involved in the assassination of Sikh activist Hardeep Singh Nijjar in Canada. India vehemently rejected the accusations.
New Delhi has long had concerns about Sikh separatist groups, but Canada has accused the separatists of giving free rein to a once-strong movement to create an independent Sikh homeland known as Khalistan. The government is increasingly condemned.
The diplomatic spat led to the expulsion of each other’s diplomats last month.
“The Government of India objects in the strongest manner to the absurd and baseless references against the Union Home Minister,” Randhir Jaiswal, a spokesperson for India’s Ministry of External Affairs, told reporters on Saturday.
“Severe impact on bilateral relations”
He also said Canadian diplomats in New Delhi were called on Friday and handed over a letter formally protesting the allegations. “Such irresponsible actions will have a serious impact on bilateral relations,” he said.
Canada’s Deputy Foreign Minister David Morrison told MPs on the National Security Committee on Tuesday that he had confirmed Shah’s name to the Washington Post, which first reported the allegations. Prime Minister Scott Morrison did not say how Canada knew about Shah’s alleged involvement.
Canadian authorities have repeatedly claimed they have shared evidence with India, but government officials deny providing the evidence and call the allegations absurd.
Nijjar was a local leader of the Khalistan movement, which is banned in India. India designated him a terrorist in 2020 and at the time of his death was seeking his arrest for his alleged involvement in attacks on Hindu priests in India.
He lived for nearly 30 years in Canada, where about 2 per cent of the population is Sikh.
