Thursday, November 21, 2024

‘Such irresponsible actions will have serious consequences’: India rejects Canadian minister’s allegations against Home Minister Amit Shah

On Saturday, the government dismissed a Canadian minister’s allegations against the Union Home Minister as “absurd and baseless.” The Canadian High Commission’s representative was summoned on Friday and given an official note of protest over allegations levelled against Shah by Deputy Minister David Morrison.

At a press conference today, Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal stated, “Concerning the recent Canadian allegations, we summoned the representative of the Canadian High Commission yesterday… The note conveyed that the Government of India strongly protests the absurd and baseless references made about the Union Home Minister of India by Deputy Minister David Morrison before the Committee.”

Two senior officials from Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government recently admitted to leaking intelligence and sensitive information about India to the Washington Post, even before Canadian police publicly claimed that their investigation into the murder of Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar had uncovered connections between Indian government agents and “homicides and violent acts” in Canada. Deputy Foreign Minister David Morrison informed a parliamentary committee on Tuesday that a high-ranking official in Prime Minister Modi’s government was allegedly involved in schemes targeting Sikh separatists in Canada.

The government rejected the allegations, asserting that they were intended to tarnish India’s image and “sway other nations.”

“Such irresponsible actions will have serious repercussions for bilateral relations,” the government warned on Saturday.

The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) stated, “The revelation that senior Canadian officials intentionally leak baseless accusations to the global media as part of a deliberate plan to discredit India and influence other countries only reinforces the view that the Government of India has held about the current Canadian administration’s political motives and conduct.”

Relations between India and Canada nosedived after the Canadian government alleged connections between Indian agents and the killing of Hardeep Singh Nijjar last year.