Recall that Indian High Commissioner Sanjay Kumar Verma, in an exclusive interview to NDTV today, strongly criticized Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau for giving shelter to Khalistani terrorists and gangs.
India withdrew Mr. Verma from Canada after the Trudeau government linked him and some other Indian diplomats to the killing of Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar and designated the Indian envoy as a “person of interest” in the case.
“Canada has failed to limit the hate speech of Khalistanis against India. Hate speech cannot be encouraged in the name of freedom of expression,” Mr Verma told NDTV.
He said Canada’s inaction against the Khalistanis despite India’s repeated requests and sharing of information has “emboldened extremists.”
“The allegations made against India by the Trudeau government are bizarre. We have informed them about the links between Goldie Brar and Lawrence Bishnoi. Goldie Brar openly runs an extortion racket in Canada,” Mr Verma told NDTV. “He is the kingpin of some extortion rackets in Canada and Punjab,” he said.
“Khalistani run businesses in Canada. They do extortion. They use this money to live a luxurious life and work against India,” he said.
He said India had also expressed strong objection to Mr Trudeau inviting Khalistanis to events in Canada.
Mr. Verma pointed to Mr. Trudeau’s inaction against terrorists, saying there is a political aspect to Canada’s harboring of Khalistanis.
India had criticized Canada for its disrespectful behavior towards the recalled ambassador – India’s most senior serving diplomat with a distinguished career spanning 36 years. The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) had said, “…the allegations leveled against him by the Government of Canada are ridiculous and should be treated with contempt.”
Diplomatic relations between New Delhi and Ottawa deteriorated after Nijjar’s killing in 2023 when Mr. Trudeau said there were “credible allegations” linking Indian intelligence to the crime. India, which designated Nijjar a terrorist in 2020, has rejected the allegations as “absurd”.
At the NDTV World Summit in Delhi earlier this week, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar had hinted that there would be some resistance and churn in the West as India and other emerging economies grow. Mr Jaishankar had said, “It is not going to be smooth”, which was seen as a reference to Canada’s behavior towards India.
The West, he said, needs to accept that there is change and rebalancing in the global order to which the West has long been accustomed.
