India’s recalled High Commissioner Sanjay Kumar Verma told NDTV on Thursday evening that Indian students in Canada should “remain aware of their surroundings” and resist attempts at radicalization by Khalistani terrorists and extremists. Mr Verma urged parents of students in Canada to “please talk to them regularly and try to understand their situation”, and guide them to stay away from foolish choices.
“Khalistani terrorists and extremists currently pose a threat to the large Indian community in Canada, including students (numbering approximately 319,000 by 2023),” he said.
“How this (Khalistani terrorists’ access to Indian students in Canada) works… Given the state of the economy there, there are very few jobs there… So students are offered money and food, and this “Khalistani terrorists and extremists influence them with nefarious designs,” Mr Verma explained to NDTV.
Some students are also persuaded to take photographs or take videos while ‘protesting’ outside Indian diplomatic buildings in Canada – raising anti-India slogans or insulting the flag, he said.
He said, “Then they are asked to seek asylum… because they would say, ‘If I go back to India now, I will be punished…’ And there have been cases of such students being granted asylum. Are.” ,
Therefore, there are various kinds of negative influences on Indian students in Canada that are pushing them in the wrong direction, Mr Verma told NDTV, as he appealed to parents.
Mr Verma’s comments come as India-Canada diplomatic relations are on a downward spiral following Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s repeated and baseless claims – that Delhi “agents” are in collusion with criminal gangs, including the Lawrence Bishnoi organization, in South Asian Conspire to target people. In that country.
Read | “Bishnoi gang linked to Indian government agents”: Canadian police claim
The controversy erupted last September when Mr Trudeau claimed there were “credible allegations” that the Indian government was involved in the killing of Khalistani leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar, a Canadian citizen.
Nijjar, designated a terrorist by the Indian government, was shot dead in Vancouver in June 2023.
India has vehemently rejected links to his death, calling them “absurd” and “malicious” and repeatedly pointing out that neither Mr Trudeau nor his government has shared any concrete evidence.
Read | “Absurd allegation”: Trudeau protests, India strongly refutes
Last week, India pointed to Mr Trudeau’s confession before an inquiry commission in Ottawa that he had no “hard evidence” linking the Indian government to the Nijjar murder.
Read | “Like we said, no evidence”: India on Trudeau’s statement
Mr Verma underlined that point to NDTV today, saying that “not a single piece of evidence” has been shared with him since his appointment as High Commissioner to Canada in September 2022. In fact, Mr. Verma said it was India that had shared evidence of extremist groups in Canada, but “no action was taken…”
Read | “We told Canada about Bishnoi-Brar ties”: recalls envoy to NDTV
The crisis that began last year escalated this month when Canadian federal police linked him to the Bishnoi gang and identified Mr Verma, India’s most senior diplomat, as a ‘person of interest’ in cases of “murder, extortion, threats and coercion”. In the form of. , Canada announced it would expel Mr. Verma.
Read | Nijjar murder, Bishnoi gang, trade talks: How India-Canada relations soured
Angered by Canada’s treatment of Mr Verma, New Delhi recalled him and five of his staff and retaliated by expelling Canada’s acting High Commissioner Stewart Wheeler and his staff members.
Shri Verma was also made ‘personalityless‘ – a diplomatic term meaning ‘a person who is no longer welcome’. He has become the first Indian diplomat to be treated in this manner.
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