'India has attacked me personally': Trudeau accuses India as diplomatic row escalates

PTC News Desk: The diplomatic ties between India and Canada have hit a rock bottom. While Canada has levelled fresh allegations against India, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau once again asserted that Canada will never tolerate the involvement of foreign governments in threatening and killing Canadian citizens on Canadian soil, terming it an "unacceptable violation of Canada's sovereignty.

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Trudeau said, "Canada is a country rooted in the rule of law, and the protection of our citizens is paramount. That is why, when our law enforcement and intelligence services began pursuing credible allegations that agents of the Government of India were directly involved in the killing of a Canadian citizen, Hardeep Singh Nijjar, on Canadian soil - we responded."

"We shared our concerns with the Government of India and asked them to work with us to shed light on this important issue. At the same time, police and security agencies have used all the tools at their disposal to keep Canadians safe. Today, given evidence presented by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), we are taking additional steps to protect Canadians," he further said.

In a statement, Trudeau urged the Indian government to cooperate with the Canadian government and recognise the credibility and severity of the evidence that has been shared so far. The Ministry of External Affairs said on Monday that Trudeau made certain allegations in September 2023. However, the Canadian government has not shared a single piece of evidence with the Indian government despite many requests from them.

He also spoke about RCMP Commissioner Mike Duhame's earlier statement, wherein he claimed that Canada had evidence that Indian government agents have engaged in and continue to engage in activities that pose a threat to public safety, including clandestine information gathering techniques, coercive behaviour targeting South Asian Canadians, and involvement in over a dozen threatening and violent acts, including murder and termed the actions "unacceptable."

Trudeau further said, "While attempts have been made by the RCMP and national security officials to work with the Government of India and Indian law enforcement counterparts on this matter, they have been repeatedly refused. That is why, this weekend, Canadian officials took an extraordinary step."

In a latest series of events, Canada alleged the involvement of Indian High Commissioner in the 2023 killing of Sikh activist Hardeep Singh Nijjar and whereas India's Ministry of External Affairs described the Canadian allegations as "preposterous imputations", arguing that the matter was linked with the political challenges that the Trudeau government was facing on the domestic front