Canada-India Row

Canada Should’ve Deported Terrorist Nijjar Decades Ago: Ex-Foreign Minister

13:33, 18 October 2024
© AP Photo / Alex Brandon
Dhairya Maheshwari
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Trudeau faces growing discontent over the housing crisis and spending, shown by falling poll ratings and by-election losses in Montreal and Toronto, along with a leadership challenge within the Liberal Party.
Sputnik
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has used the ongoing row against India to divert public's attention from controversies plaguing his Liberal government at home, former Canadian Foreign Minister Maxime Bernier told Sputnik India.

"It isn't usual for the police and the government to go public with vague criminal allegations when an investigation is still going on, and when no proof has yet been presented in court, and even less so when it involves diplomats from a friendly country," Bernier, who heads the People's Party of Canada (PPC), stressed. "The RCMP claims to be doing so [having gone public with the allegations] because there are serious risks of more people who are being targeted."

Trudeau has told the Foreign Interference Commission that Indian diplomats withdrawn from Canada this week used to collect information on mainly pro-Khalistani entities and shared it with the highest levels of the Indian government as well as criminal organisations such as Lawrence Bishnoi Gang. In a press conference on Monday, RCMP Commissioner Mike Duheme said that police were investigating around 10 criminal cases which may have links to the Indian government 'agents".
India has categorically denied these charges. The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) told a regular briefing on Thursday that India has shared some requests with the Canadian side for the arrest of members of Lawrence Bishnoi Gang operating in Canada.
"They haven’t taken any action on our core concerns. There is a political motive also behind this," MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal told reporters.
Further, Jaiswal rejected the "false imputations" against Indian diplomats, noting that Trudeau himself admitted that Canada has failed to share any "hard evidentiary proof" with India.
Citing security concerns, India this week recalled its High Commissioner and several diplomats posted in Canada, while expelling six Canadian diplomats from the country.
Previously, India handed over a detailed dossier on Nijjar's activities and links with several proscribed terror groups to Canada.
Bernier rejected Trudeau's claim that the Khalistani extremist was a "Canadian citizen." He echoed India's official concerns, stating that individuals facing criminal and terrorist charges in India have been able to seek asylum in Canada regularly.

"Nijjar was actually a foreign terrorist who used fraudulent documents to claim asylum in Canada several times starting in 1997. His claims were rejected but he was nevertheless allowed to stay in this country and was somehow granted citizenship in 2007," Bernier underscored. "He should have been deported after his first fake asylum claim, like the hundreds of thousands of fake asylum claimants who are in Canada right now."

The root cause of the current India-Canada row is the longstanding practice of inviting dubious foreigners to Canada, the former Foreign Minister explained. He urged an end to this trend.

"We should recognize this major blunder and work with the government of India to find solutions instead of jeopardising our relations with a rising world power and an important ally over this issue," Bernier concluded.

Canada-India Row
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Canada-India RowCanadaIndiaGovernment of IndiaJustin TrudeauKhalistan movementSikhsterror chargesterror outfitsterrorismcounter-terrorismterrorist attackUSUS State Departmentillegal immigrationimmigrantsIndian diaspora
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