India summons Canada envoy after Trudeau govt's move on Nijjar killing case
India summoned Canada's Charge'd Affairs in New Delhi after diplomatic ties between the two countries hit a new low on Monday.
PTC News Desk: India summoned Canada's Charge'd Affairs in New Delhi after diplomatic ties between the two countries hit a new low on Monday.
Stewart Wheeler was summoned by the Foreign Ministry after the government criticised Canada for probing the Indian ambassador and other diplomats as "persons of interest" in the killing of Sikh leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar.
According to the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), India got a "diplomatic communication from Canada yesterday suggesting that the Indian High Commissioner and other diplomats are 'persons of interest' in a matter related to an investigation in that country".
The claims were deemed "preposterous" and a "strategy of smearing India for political gains" by the government.
"The Government of India strongly rejects these preposterous imputations and ascribes them to the political agenda of the Trudeau Government that is centred around vote bank politics," the government said.
"India now reserves the right to take further steps in response to these latest efforts of the Canadian Government to concoct allegations against Indian diplomats."
The killing of Nijjar in 2023 damaged diplomatic relations between New Delhi and Ottawa, with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau claiming there were "credible allegations" linking Indian intelligence to the crime. India, which labelled Nijjar as a terrorist in 2020, condemned the allegations as "absurd".