Indian foreign minister responds to murder charges, says Canada welcomes criminals – Winnipeg Free Press

OTTAWA – India's foreign minister says Canada's “biggest problem” is Sikh separatism.

Subrahmanyam Jaishankar also accused Canada of harboring criminals when asked about its reaction to the murder case, which has fueled tensions between the two countries.

RCMP charged three Indian nationals last Friday in the death of Sikh activist Hardeep Singh Nijar, who was shot and killed as he left a temple in Surrey last June.

His death sparked a wave of protests and rallies against Indian diplomats in Canada, especially after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau accused New Delhi of complicity in the murder.

Jaishankar said the protests in Canada had gone beyond free speech, and he responded to last week's arrest by repeating claims that Ottawa was allowing Indian criminals to immigrate to Canada.

He also accused Canadian politicians of influencing the election of people who want to create a separate Sikh homeland from India called Khalistan.

Jaishankar made the comments at an event held at the Intellectual Forum in the eastern city of Bhubaneswar on Saturday.

One of the participants asked Jaishankar about countries like the US and Canada wanting to partner with India while allowing people to support a separatist movement that New Delhi considers unconstitutional. Another participant asked about last Friday's arrests, and Jaishankar answered both questions.

“It's not as much of a problem in the US; Our biggest problem right now is in Canada,” Jaishankar said, adding that the ruling Liberals, as well as other parties, “have given a certain legitimacy to freedom of speech to supporters of extremism, separatism, violence.”

Jaishankar said he asked Foreign Minister Melanie Jolie about “attacks or threats” against Indian diplomatic missions and staff in Canada.

“I say to the foreign minister (Jolie), 'Let's say this happened to you. If it was your diplomat, your embassy, ​​your flag, how would you react?' That's why we have to keep our position strong,” he said.

Jaishankar reiterated his ministry's insistence that Ottawa allow criminal elements to operate in Canada and liaise with Sikh separatists.

“Someone may have been arrested; the police may have done some investigating. But the fact is that (a) the number of gangs, (a) the number of people with links to organized crime from Punjab have been welcomed in Canada,” he said.

“These are wanted criminals from India, you gave them visas, but you allow them to live there.”

New Delhi raised similar concerns a week before Trudeau announced last September that he suspected Indian involvement in Nijar's death. In Trudeau's meeting with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Jaishankar's ministry cited “linkages of (Khalistan separatist) forces to organized crime, drug syndicates and human trafficking.”

But Ottawa has repeatedly insisted that India has not proven that the people it charges with terrorism have actually committed anything that meets the threshold set out in Canada's criminal code.

In February, a senior Canadian foreign service bureaucrat told MPs that Canadian officials were offering “seminars” on the rule of law to their Indian counterparts because India's definition of terrorism “doesn't always count in our legal system.”

In a speech on Saturday, Jaishankar said calls for the partition of Khalistan “can be reversed” but did not specify where he was coming from.

“It's not a one-way street world anymore,” he said. “There will be a reaction; others will either step in or oppose it.”

The Indian High Commission in Ottawa did not immediately respond to a question on whether Jaishankar was referring to Indian withdrawal or non-state elements.

Jolie's office also did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Jolie has previously said she wants to pursue private diplomacy with India.

This Canadian Press report was first published on May 5, 2024.