The space given to terrorists and extremists remains India’s core issue with Canada, Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said on Thursday.
This comes a day after Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau asserted that New Delhi’s ties with Ottawa may have undergone a “tonal shift” after the US indictment of an Indian national in an alleged plot to kill a Sikh separatist (Gurpatwant Singh Pannun).
Addressing the media, MEA spokesperson Bagchi said, “Our position has been quite consistent. And whenever this has been raised, we have highlighted how we see the problem.”
“The core issue remains the space that is given to extremists and terrorists and, anti-India elements in that country,” the MEA spokesperson said.
“I think you would have heard from the External Affairs Minister recently as well as others, about the developments of that case… and we would hope that they would take action on such extremist, elements that are misusing the freedom of speech and expression in their country,” he said.
On Wednesday, Trudeau told the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, “I think there is a beginning of an understanding that they can’t bluster their way through this and there is an openness to collaborating in a way that perhaps they were less open before.”
He said the US indictment appears to have convinced the Indian government to adopt a more sober tone.
The ties between India and Canada came under severe strain following Trudeau’s allegations on September 18 of a “potential” involvement of Indian agents in the killing of Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar on June 18 in British Columbia.
India had designated Nijjar as a terrorist in 2020.
India rejected Trudeau’s allegations as “absurd” and “motivated”.
In November, the US federal prosecutors charged that one Nikhil Gupta was working with an Indian government employee in the foiled plot to kill a Sikh separatist, who holds dual citizenship of the US and Canada. Though the separatist Sikh leader was not named, media reports identified him as Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, the leader of the Sikhs for Justice, an organisation banned in India.
India has already constituted a probe committee to investigate allegations.