India has lodged a strong protest over Canada’s allegations after it was alleged that Union Home Minister, Amit Shah had ordered a campaign of violence, intimidation and Intelligence gathering targeting Khalistani extremists.
On Saturday, November 2, the Ministry of External Affairs said that it had summoned a senior Canadian diplomat to protest the absurd and baseless references against Amit Shah in connection with the killing of Khalistan terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar.
“We had summoned the representative of the Canadian High Commission yesterday. A Diplomatic Note was handed over in reference to the proceedings of the Standing Committee on Public Safety and National Security,” MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said.
He also added that India lodged its protest in the strongest terms to the absurd and baseless references made to the Union Minister of India before the Committee by Deputy Minister David Morrison.
The MEA spokesperson also criticised the Canadian government’s actions and described them as a deliberate strategy to malign India’s image.
“The revelation that high Canadian officials deliberately leak unfounded insinuations to the international media as part of a conscious strategy to discredit India and influence other nations only confirms the view Government of India has long held about current Canadian Government’s political agenda and behavioural pattern. Such irresponsible actions will have serious consequences for bilateral ties,” he added.
Jaiswal also said that there is an extremism, a culture of violence in Canada. He hoped that Canada would look into the same.
The MEA also had strong words for a Canada CSE report. The report listed India as an adversary state over allegations of cyber warfare. On this issue, Jaiswal said that this appears to be another example of Canadian strategy to attack India. ‘ As I mentioned earlier, their senior officials have openly confessed that they are seeking to manipulate global opinion against India. As on other occasions, imputations are made without any evidence, he further said.
During a hearing by the parliamentary panel in Canada, the deputy foreign affairs minister, David Morrison had said that he had informed a US newspaper that Amit Shah was behind the plots to incite and indulge in intimidation against the Sikh separatists living in Canada.
Nathalie Drouin, the National Security Advisor to Canadian Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, who was also present before the same panel said that they had planted the story in the Washington Post and the Delhi bureau chief of the newspaper was used for the same.
