‘Absurd, Motivated’: India Junks Trudeau’s Claims as Canada Expels Indian Diplomat Over Khalistan Terrorist’s Killing

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Monday said ‘foreign powers’ were behind the killing of pro-Khalistan leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar.

The chief of the Khalistan Tiger Force terrorist group. He claimed the Indian government played a role in his fatal shooting, news agencies ANI and CBC reported.

The ministry of external affairs on Tuesday said the claims made by the Canadian Prime Minister are ‘motivated’ and ‘absurd’.

“We have seen and rejected the statement of the Canadian Prime Minister in their Parliament, as also the statement by their Foreign Minister. Allegations of the Government of India’s involvement in any act of violence in Canada are absurd and motivated. Similar allegations were made by the Canadian Prime Minister to our Prime Minister, and were completely rejected,” the external affairs ministry said in a press release.

Canada also expelled a senior Indian diplomat hours after Trudeau made the claims. Canadian foreign minister Melanie Joly told Canadian media outlets that her government has expelled a senior Indian diplomat over the killing of Hardeep Singh Nijjar.

Nijjar, wanted in India, was shot outside a gurdwara’s parking lot in Surrey, a city in the Canadian province of British Columbia, on June 18.

“Such unsubstantiated allegations seek to shift the focus from Khalistani terrorists and extremists, who have been provided shelter in Canada and continue to threaten India’s sovereignty and territorial integrity. The inaction of the Canadian Government on this matter has been a long-standing and continuing concern,” the external affairs ministry said.

Nijjar, who hailed from Punjab’s Bharsinghpur village of Jalandhar, was a Canadian citizen who served as the president of Surrey’s Guru Nanak Sikh Gurdwara.

Trudeau claimed that the attack on a Canadian citizen within Canada was a violation of the nation’s sovereignty. “Any involvement of a foreign government in the killing of a Canadian citizen on Canadian soil is an unacceptable violation of our sovereignty. It is contrary to the fundamental rules by which free, open, and democratic societies conduct themselves,” Justin Trudeau said, according to ANI.