Amid the diplomatic tension between India and Canada, a new twist has surfaced wherein sources have claimed that Pakistan's spy agency Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) orchestrated the murder of terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar in July this year. According to the sources of India TV, Islamabad did this deliberately in order to strain the relations between the two nations.
As per the sources, ISI shared "good" relations with Nijjar and had been using him for plotting anti-India activities in Canada. However, Nijjar, who was born in India's Punjab district and went to Ottawa where he obtained Canadian citizenship "illegally", had an inclination towards old Khalistani supporters.
This issue had been a major concern for ISI as it wanted Nijjar to support the gangsters who arrived and nurtured in Canada in the past two years.
Why did ISI orchestrate Nijjar's killing?
According to sources, Nijjar declined to support the new gangsters, and this prompted the so-called Pakistan intelligence agency to plot the murder of the Indian-origin man.
Moreover, the sources also claimed that ISI, with the help of the Khalistani group in Canada, has been operating multiple drug nexus in Punjab-- which is considered the main source of funding for orchestrating anti-India activities on foreign soil.
However, due to Nijjar's presence, the income had been deeply affected. With the killing of Nijjar, sources said ISI are now in full swing to get a replacement for the slain Khalistani terrorist.
India's stern message to Canada over Trudeau's allegations
It is worth mentioning that Nijjar was killed in Canada on July 19 in British Columbia by two unidentified men. The issue was almost grounded until Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau alleged Indian agents were behind the killing of the Khalistani terrorist and claimed he has "credible proof". This prompted a swift response from the Indian government.
The Ministry of External Affairs, in a statement, outrightly rejected the claims and accused Canada of providing a safe haven to terrorists who were involved in anti-India activities for the past 3-4 decades.
Earlier on Monday and Tuesday, MEA S Jaishankar rejected Canada's claims from the platform of the United Nations General Assembly and at a private event respectively. He highlighted the “organised crime, related to secessionist forces, violence and extremism” in Canada, raising concerns over them being “very permissive” due to political reasons.
“In the last few years, Canada actually has seen a lot of organized crime, relating to the secessionist forces, organized crime, violence and extremism. They're all very, very deeply mixed up. So in fact, we have been talking about specifics and information,” Jaishankar said.
