Ottawa states the close ally of India’s PM is associated with an intimidation project versus Sikh separatists on Canadian soil. Indian sources call the claims ‘lightweight’.
Canada has actually implicated Indian Minister of Home Affairs Amit Shah of lagging a project of violence and intimidation targeting Sikh activists, in a relocation likely to extend a current diplomatic spat in between Ottawa and New Delhi.
Deputy Foreign Affairs Minister David Morrison verified to the members of the nationwide security committee late on Tuesday that the federal government thinks about Shah– thought about India’s second-highest leader and a close ally of Prime Minister Narendra Modi– the designer of the project versus Sikh separatists in Canada, which has actually consisted of the assassination of an activist.
India has not up until now reacted, nevertheless, Reuters news company reported on Wednesday that federal government authorities had actually turned down the allegation.
Morrison informed committee members that he had actually validated Shah’s name to The Washington Post, which had actually previously reported the accusations.
“The reporter called me and asked if it was that individual. I validated it was that individual,” Morrison informed the committee. He did not expose the proof behind Canada’s claims.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has actually formerly stated Canada has reliable proof that representatives of the Indian federal government were associated with the murder of Canadian Sikh activist Hardeep Singh Nijjar in British Columbia in June 2023.
The assassination and consequences have actually triggered a diplomatic spat in between the 2 nations.
Canada expelled Indian diplomats that it connected to the project it declares has actually targeted Sikhs. India reacted with its own expulsion of Canadian authorities.
The United States likewise charged a previous Indian intelligence officer, Vikash Yadav, for supposedly directing a foiled plot to murder Sikh separatist leader Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, a double US-Canadian resident and Indian critic in New York City.
Nathalie Drouin, Trudeau’s nationwide security advisor, informed the security committee on Tuesday that Canada had proof the Indian federal government had actually been collecting details on Indian nationals and Canadian residents in Canada through diplomatic channels and proxies.
‘Flimsy’
Canadian authorities have in the past stated that they have actually shared proof with India, however authorities in New Delhi have actually consistently rejected that and called the accusations unreasonable.
India did not right away discuss the allegation versus Shah. Reuters priced quote unnamed federal government sources who stated that New Delhi thinks about Canada’s proof to be “extremely weak” and “lightweight” and that it does not anticipate it to trigger any problem for the effective interior minister.
Modi’s federal government has actually branded Sikh separatists “terrorists” and hazards to its security. The activists require an independent homeland, referred to as Khalistan, to be taken of India.
An armed disobedience throughout the 1980s and 1990s eliminated 10s of thousands. In 1984, anti-Sikh riots eliminated thousands following the assassination of then-Prime Minister Indira Gandhi by her Sikh bodyguards after she bought security forces to storm the holiest Sikh temple to eliminate Sikh separatists.
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Al Jazeera and news companies