Relations between India and Canada are currently at their worst. The Canadian government has made very serious accusations against the Indian government in the murder case of Khalistan supporter Hardeep Singh Nijjar last year. Meanwhile, the Congress party said the central government should take confidence from the opposition leaders in the House and Senate and clarify its stance on the matter.
Senior Congress leader Jairam Ramesh said in a social media post that given the impasse in diplomatic relations between Canada and India, the central government should clarify its stance on Justin Trudeau’s allegations.
He said the Congress party has asked the prime minister to express confidence to the leaders of the opposition and other political parties in both houses of Parliament over the serious allegations leveled by Canada and the United States against the Indian government.
He said the request from Congress was necessary in view of deteriorating relations between India and Canada and concerns about India-US relations. He said that these Canadian accusations are supported by many countries, which may increase tensions, damage India’s global image, and damage India’s brand image.
Jairam Ramesh said the opposition should have complete information about the matter as it is our shared responsibility to protect India’s global reputation. Our country’s international image as a country that believes in and upholds the rule of law is threatened, and we must work together to preserve it. It is necessary for the entire country to unite on national security and foreign policy. It is important that the Indian government immediately and clearly states its position on this issue.
What’s going on?
The entire incident is related to the murder of Khalistani supporter Hardeep Singh Nijar. Nijar was declared a terrorist by India despite being a Canadian citizen. He was shot and killed near the Gurudwara in Surrey, British Columbia, on June 18 last year.
On September 18 last year, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau claimed that Indian agents were involved in Nijar’s murder.
However, India has always denied these claims by Canada and considered them absurd and baseless. On Monday, Canadian police used their position to collect information directly or through agents in Indian diplomatic and consular missions. This means that Canada directly sent the Indian diplomats to the dock. Later, Trudeau repeated the same accusation at a press conference.
But the Indian Ministry of Foreign Affairs denied this and made it clear that Trudeau did this for vote bank politics. India also recalled High Commissioner Sanjay Kumar Verma after Canada made the allegations. India has made it clear that they now do not trust the current Canadian government.
