Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, on Sunday, again provoked India by alleging Indian agents behind the killing of Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar in June this year and New Delhi's action of snatching "diplomatic immunity" of Canadian envoys as "a violation of the Vienna Convention". "We have serious reasons to believe that agents of the government of India could have been involved in the killing of a Canadian citizen on Canadian soil and India's response is to kick out a whole bunch of Canadian diplomats by violating their rights under the Vienna Convention," he said.
"That is of concern to countries around the world because if a given country can just decide that their diplomats of another country are no longer protected, that makes international relations more dangerous and more serious," added the Canadian PM.
Trudeau said that Canada tried to work "collaboratively" and "positively" with New Delhi and added Ottawa will continue to work with Indian counterparts. "This is not a fight we want to be having right now but we will unequivocally always stand up for the rule of law...," added Trudeau.
India-Canada tensions
It is worth mentioning Nijjar, an Indian-origin but Canadian citizen, was shot by unidentified men outside a gurdwara in Surrey, British Columbia, on June 18. Nearly three months after the killing, Trudeau abruptly appeared in the Canadian Parliament and alleged India's involvement in the killing of the Sikh separatist leader.
This triggered a massive uproar in India as well as Canada, especially in the diplomatic arena. At first, India halted visas for Canadians and later snatched the diplomatic immunity of at least 41 diplomats in New Delhi. This prompted Ottawa to call back their envoys from India.
We reached out to India: Trudeau
Meanwhile, responding to the US State Secretary Antony Blinken's statement that the US wants to see Canada moving its investigation forward on Nijjar and that India needs to help make it happen, the Canadian PM said, "From the very beginning when we learned of credible allegations that agents of the Indian govt were involved in the killing of a Canadian citizen on Canadian soil, we reached out to India to ask them to work with us in getting to the bottom of this matter."
Trudeau says he does not want to escalate the matter
Earlier last month, Trudeau said that he is "not looking to escalate" the tensions with New Delhi and wants to have constructive relations. "We're not looking to escalate, as I've said, we're going to be doing the work that matters in continuing to have constructive relations with India through this extremely difficult time," CBC News quoted Trudeau as saying. The Canadian PM also acknowledged that Ottawa was going through an "extremely challenging time" with New Delhi.
He further said that the dispute between both countries has made it "important for us to have diplomats on the ground working with the Indian government there to support Canadians and Canadian families." Trudeau asserted that his government was taking the matter extremely seriously and would attempt to engage "responsibly and constructively" with India.
