On Thursday (19th October), Canadian Foreign Minister Melaine Joly courted controversy after she failed to answer a direct question on whether her country shared evidence with the Indian government about the latter’s supposed involvement in the killing of Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar.
During a press briefing, a reporter asked Melaine Joly, “Can you clarify (whether) have you shown them the evidence you are basing your claim on and have you walked them on how Canada reached this conclusion?”
The Canadian Foreign Minister initially fumbled but later said, “We had numerous conversations with India before Prime Minister (Justin Trudeau) went in front of the House and made his declaration. This was not a surprise to the Government of India. “
#BREAKING: Canadian Foreign Minister @melaniejoly left red faced in a media interaction as she is unable to answer question on why Canada failed to share any evidence with India on killing of Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar. Canada confirms withdrawing 41 diplomats from… pic.twitter.com/ineznOsMSD
— Aditya Raj Kaul (@AdityaRajKaul) October 20, 2023
On being pressed about the ‘evidence’, she dodged the question and said that India was made aware of ‘credible allegations’ through ‘conversations.’
“And so based on that, India has decided to take their own decisions which are precedent-setting and revoking the diplomatic immunity of 41 diplomats is not only unprecedented but also contrary to international law. So in that sense, this is unprecedented and would put so many countries, and different diplomats around the world in danger. We decide not to reciprocate,” Melaine Joly went on a tirade.
The reporter pointed out that the Canadian Foreign Minister did not answer the question about ‘evidence’ being shared with the Indian authorities. In her defence, Melaine Joly said that there were meetings and ‘information’ was shared.
It must be mentioned that the Canadian government has so far not provided any specific proof, which could remotely point fingers at India’s role in the killing of Hardeep Singh Nijjar.
In fact, British Columbia Premier David Eby has gone on record to say that briefings provided to him by CSIS (Canadian Intelligence Agency) about the killing of Hardeep Singh Nijjar were ‘open source’ and based on material available on the internet.
The Background of the Controversy
Hardeep Singh Nijjar, the head of Guru Nanak Sikh Gurdwara Sahib and a wanted Khalistani terrorist in India, was shot dead in Surrey by two unidentified assailants on June 18, 2023. He was a wanted terrorist by the Indian Government. The 46-year-old hailed from the village Bhar Singhpura of Jalandhar.
On September 19, the Canadian government expelled one Indian diplomat after PM Justin Trudeau blamed India for the killing of Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar.
The development came after Canadian Foreign Minister Melanie Joly informed in a presser that the allegations of India’s involvement are being investigated. She termed the killing an attack on Canada’s sovereignty and informed that as a consequence, Canada has expelled one top Indian diplomat.
In a swift response, the Ministry of External Affairs stated that any allegation of India’s involvement in Nijjar’s killing is ‘absurd and motivated’. It has also expelled a senior Canadian diplomat in response to Canada’s hostile behaviour towards India, and open support to anti-India terrorists.
MEA spokesperson Arindam Bagchi shared on X, “The High Commissioner of Canada was summoned today and informed about India’s decision to expel a senior Canadian diplomat based in India. The Concerned diplomat has been asked to leave India in the next five days.”
Thereafter, Canada issued travel warnings to Indian citizens in the country, stopped the issuance of new visas and even directed the country to downsize its diplomatic presence in India.
In fact, Justin Trudeau is now facing the heat from Canadian media, which has been insisting the government to share evidence in the public domain.
