Amid heightened diplomatic tensions with India, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau called his own intelligence officials “criminals” for linking Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Foreign Minister Subramanian Jaishankar to violence on Canadian soil.
Addressing the media in Brampton on Friday, Trudeau said, “Unfortunately, we have seen criminals leaking top-secret information to the media consistently get those stories wrong.”
“So we launched a national investigation into foreign interference, highlighting that those leaking information to media outlets are both criminal and untrustworthy,” he said.
PM Justin Trudeau reacts to Globe and Mail report on PM Modi, Foreign Minister, NSA, Canada, terming his officials as ‘criminals’ for leaking information about Indian leadership to media; Called media reports ‘wrong’
CTSY:CPAC pic.twitter.com/eQji6hKkNw
-Vipul? (@_lonewolf0308) 23 November 2024
The development comes after Canada on Thursday fact-checked and refuted a report linking top Indian leaders to criminal activities on Canadian soil.
In a statement posted on a government website, Nathalie Drouin, Mr. Trudeau’s intelligence adviser, said: “The Government of Canada has not and will not seek to link Prime Minister Modi, Minister Jaishankar, or NSA Doval to this serious matter. Only he is aware of the evidence.” Criminal activity within Canada. Any suggestion to the contrary is both speculative and false.”
Canada’s statement comes after a report published this week by the Globe and Mail newspaper alleged that Canadian security agencies believed PM Modi knew about violent plots and said Mr Jaishankar And National Security Advisor (NSA) Ajit Doval was also in the loop.
Last month, the Canadian Foreign Ministry had alleged that Union Home Minister Amit Shah was behind the intimidation campaign in Canada. Ottawa says it has evidence linking Indian government agents to the 2023 killing of Khalistan terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar, who held a Canadian passport.
Relations between the two countries have come under severe strain following Trudeau’s allegations of “possible involvement” of Indian agents in the killing of Khalistan terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar, who held a Canadian passport, in September last year.
New Delhi rejected Trudeau’s allegations as “absurd”. India has said that the main issue between the two countries is Canada’s exemption of pro-Khalistan elements operating from Canadian soil.
The dispute has escalated so much that both countries have expelled each other’s top diplomats.
