The Canadian Prime Minister, Justin Trudeaurevealed this Monday that the country’s intelligence services implicate the Indian authorities in the murder in Canada from a leader of the Sikh community.
“Any involvement of a foreign government in the murder of a Canadian on Canadian soil is a unacceptable violation of our sovereignty“he said in the Lower House of the Canadian Parliament.
Following Trudeau’s statement, Canada’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Melanie Joly, announced the expulsion of a “key diplomat” Indianthe person responsible for Indian intelligence in the country.
Canada “will not tolerate any form of interference” and the Government will “protect Canada’s sovereignty,” he said.
The prime minister added that Canada “has conveyed its deep concerns to the highest security and Indian government officials” about the murder of Hardeep Singh Nijjarwhich occurred last June in the town of Surrey, in western Canada.
Singh Nijjar, shot by unknown assailants in the parking lot of a Sikh temple, had been accused of terrorism by Indian authorities for advocating the creation in the state of Punjab of an independent country, Khalistan, for the Sikh minority.
Trudeau informed the country’s main political leaders this Monday of the conclusions of the Canadian intelligence services on India’s involvement in the murder and has stated that during the G20 summit, held in India on September 9 and 10, he has asked his Indian counterpart, Narendra Modi, for explanations.
“In the strongest possible manner, I recommend to the Government of India that collaborate with Canada to get to the bottom of this matter,” said the president, who described what happened as “extremely serious.”
On September 1, the Canadian Government announced the suspension of talks with India for the signing of a free trade agreement, without explaining the reasons. Canada has also canceled a trade mission to India which should have been carried out in October.
About 1.8 million people of Indian origin live in Canada, of which about 770,000 are Sikhs. The leader of the social democratic New Democratic Party (NPD), Jagmeet Singh, the fourth party in the Canadian Parliament, is Sikh.
