Nijjar killing: Jaishankar asks Trudeau to share evidence
The News Freedom
Chandigarh, November 16
Minister of External Affairs, Dr S. Jaishankar, has asked Canadian Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, to provide evidence in Hardeep Singh Nijjar killing. “If you have a reason to make such an allegation, please share the evidence with us. Look, if you have a reason to make such an allegation, please share the evidence with us. We are not ruling out an investigation and looking at anything which they may have to offer. They haven’t done so, “ said Jaishankar in an interview with journalist Lionel Barber in London. He also shared this conversation on his social media platform X formerly known as Twitter. Jaishankar was responding to Trudeau’s recent comment on the issue.
“The context is that in Canada, we feel that Canadian politics has given space to violent and extreme political opinions which advocate separatism from India, including through violent means. These people have been accommodated in Canadian politics. They are given the freedom to articulate their views,” Jaishankar further said.
Talking about misuse of the freedom of speech, Jaishankar said that freedom of speech and freedom of expression also comes with a certain responsibility. “The misuse of those freedoms and the toleration of that misuse for political purposes would be very wrong. Look, if you have a reason to make such an allegation, please share the evidence with us. We are not ruling out an investigation and looking at anything which they may have to offer. They haven’t done so,” the Minister of External Affairs further said.
Reiterating his allegations regarding the killing of Khalistani Terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar, Canadian Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, this week said that a “fight” with India was not something Canada wanted to be having right now. “We have tried to work constructively and positively with India and we will continue to and that means continuing to work with Indian government diplomats. This is not a fight we want to be having right now,” Trudeau said while addressing media in Canada.
Leveling serious allegations against India, Trudeau had said, “We reached out to India to ask them to work with us in getting to the bottom of this matter. Canada is a country that will always stand up for the rule of law. Because if might starts to make right, if bigger countries can violate international law without consequences, then the whole world gets more dangerous for everyone.”
He had also alleged that India had violated the Vienna Convention and arbitrarily revoked the diplomatic immunity of over 40 Canadian diplomats in India. India has rejected these allegations terming these as baseless and motivated. Notably, India had previously designated Nijjar as a terrorist in 2020. Trudeau’s assertion of a possible link involving Indian agents in the killing of Nijjar on June 18 in British Columbia significantly strained the ties between the two nations in September.
India on November 10 conveyed to the US its concerns over pro-Khalistan activities in Canada during the Fifth Annual India-U.S. 2+2 Ministerial Dialogue held in New Delhi. Minister of External Affairs, Dr S. Jaishankar, and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh led the Indian side at the ministerial dialogue talks while the American delegation was led by U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin.
Providing details about the discussion on pro-Khalistani activities in Canada, Foreign Secretary Vinay Kwatra said, “We have made our position very clear to our friends and partners and I think they understand and appreciate the sense of where India comes from,”. “We have been having very consistent conversations with all our friends and partners and our position on this matter has been explained in full detail at multiple occasions,” he added.
“We have core security concerns and I am sure you are all aware of the recent video that has surfaced from one such individual – Gurpatwant Singh Pannun – which presents very serious security concerns,” Kwatra said while addressing a press conference after the ministerial dialogue concluded.
Sikhs For Justice (SFJ) leader and pro-Khalistani Gurpatwant Singh Pannun had released a threatening video asking Sikhs not to travel via Air India flights after 19 November.
In an official statement on Friday, US Secretary of State Blinken said, that India and Canada are two of our closest friends and partners, and of course we want to see them resolving any differences or disputes that they have as a friend of both. “We think it’s very important that India work with Canada on its investigation, and that they find a way to resolve this difference in a cooperative way. But that really does go with Canada moving its investigation forward and India working with Canada on it. And that’s something that I’ve discussed with our Indian counterparts, including today,” he added.
Reacting to Pannun’s video, Canada Transportation Minister Pablo Rodriguez said that the government is investigating a warning in videos circulating online not to fly Air India starting November 19, “Our government takes any threat to aviation extremely seriously. We are investigating recent threats circulating online closely and with our security partners. We will do everything necessary to keep Canadians safe.” Pablo Rodriguez, wrote on social media platform X.
India’s High Commissioner to Canada, Sanjay Kumar Verma, had also asked Ottawa to present compelling evidence supporting its claims regarding the assassination of Hardeep Singh Nijjar. In an exclusive interview with Canada’s The Globe and Mail, Commissioner Verma highlighted India’s dissatisfaction, stressing the absence of substantial evidence from Canada or its allies that would substantiate the involvement of Indian agents in Nijjar’s killing, which occurred in Burnaby, B.C.