On Wednesday, India rejected a Canadian media report as a “smear campaign” that claimed that the Indian Prime Minister was allegedly aware of a conspiracy to kill Sikh separatist Hardeep Singh Nijjar.
Randhir Jaiswal, a spokesman for the External Affairs Ministry, criticized the article, which cited an unidentified Canadian source, calling the assertions “ludicrous statements” that should be rejected outright.
“Normally, we don’t respond to news reporting. But such absurd remarks made to a newspaper allegedly by a Canadian official source ought to be treated with the disdain they merit,” he said.
According to Jaiswal, such smear attempts simply serve to exacerbate the already tense relations between Canada and India. He was responding to inquiries from the press over the article that appeared in The Globe and Mail, a Canadian newspaper.
The report, which was published in The Globe and Mail, claimed that India’s external affairs minister and national security advisor (NSA) were also aware of the alleged plot and quoted comments from a top national security official.
In June 2023, Nijjar was shot dead outside a gurdwara in Surrey, British Columbia. Four Indian nationals were detained and accused by Canadian authorities for the murder.
India has often claimed that Canada has not shown any proof to back up its claim that the Indian government was involved in Nijjar’s murder. The Indian side has maintained that Canada has not offered any proof to support its claim that Nijjar, who has already been named a terrorist by New Delhi, was killed by Indian government agents.
After Canada accused Indian High Commissioner Sanjay Verma and other diplomats of being involved in the murder last month, India-Canada ties took a severe turn for the worst.
Following Ottawa’s designation of the Indian ambassador and other diplomats as “persons of interest” in the inquiry into the murder of pro-Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar, India responded by expelling six Canadian diplomats and withdrawing its envoy.
Additionally, India called Canada’s measures “preposterous” and charged that the Justin Trudeau administration was acting politically.
In response to Canada’s accusations, New Delhi dismissed Canadian Charge d’Affaires Stewart Wheeler along with five other diplomats.
