Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi (left) waves to his supporters next to Indian Home Minister Amit Shah after filing his nomination papers for re-election to a parliamentary seat in Varanasi on May 14, 2024.
Niharika Kulkarni | AFP | Getty Images
The Canadian government claimed on Tuesday that India’s Home Minister Amit Shah, a close ally of Hindu nationalist Prime Minister Narendra Modi, was behind a plot to target Sikh separatists in Canada. .
The Indian government has dismissed Canada’s previous accusations as baseless and denied any involvement.
The Washington Post first reported that Canadian authorities claimed Shah was behind the violence and intimidation targeting Sikh separatists in Canada.
Canada’s deputy foreign minister, David Morrison, told a parliamentary committee on Tuesday that he had told a US-based newspaper that Mr Shah was behind the plot.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison told the committee: “A journalist called me and asked me if that’s who[Mr Shah]was. I confirmed it was that person,” but further details or evidence were not available. Didn’t show it. The Indian High Commission in Ottawa and India’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs had no immediate comment.
India calls Sikh separatists “terrorists” and threatens its security. Sikh separatists demand an independent homeland known as Khalistan to be carved out of India. Tens of thousands of people died in the insurgency in India in the 1980s and 1990s.
This period also saw the assassination of then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi by her Sikh bodyguards, who ordered security forces to storm the holiest Sikh shrines to eliminate Sikh separatists, killing thousands of people in 1984. This included the anti-Sikh riots of 2017.
In mid-October, Canada expelled an Indian diplomat after linking him to the 2023 murder of Sikh separatist leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar on Canadian soil. India also ordered the expulsion of Canadian diplomats.
The Canadian case is not the only incident in which India has allegedly targeted Sikh separatists abroad.
Washington has accused former Indian intelligence officer Vikash of leading a failed plot to kill Sikh separatist leader Gurpatwant Singh Panun, a dual U.S.-Canadian citizen and critic of India, in New York City. – Mr. Yadav was indicted.
The FBI warned against such retaliation targeting U.S. residents. India has said little publicly since announcing a formal investigation into the US allegations in November 2023.
The accusations have tested Washington and Ottawa’s relationship with India, which is often seen by Western countries as a counterbalance to China.
