NEW DELHI, Dec 21
Stating that New Delhi’s position has remained consistent, India on Thursday said its “core” issue with Canada is the space given to extremists and anti-India elements operating from that country.
Addressing a media briefing, External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said India also hoped that Canada will take action against separatists and anti-India elements.
“Our position has been quite consistent. And whenever this has been raised, we have highlighted, how we see the problem. The core issue remains the space that is given to extremists and terrorists and, anti-India elements in that country. I think you would heard also from the External Affairs Minister recently as well as others, about the developments of that case… and we would hope that they would take action on such extremist, elements that are misusing the freedom of speech and expression in their country,” Bagchi said.
The ties between India and Canada have been under severe strain following Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s allegations in September linking Indian agents to the killing of Khalistani separatist Hardeep Singh Nijjar in June. India has strongly rejected the charges and stated that Ottawa has shared only “allegations” linked to the separatist.
The MEA spokesperson’s remarks come a day after Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Wednesday that India’s relations with Canada may have undergone a “tonal shift” after the release of a US indictment alleging a conspiracy to murder a Sikh separatist on American soil.
“I think there is a beginning of an understanding that they can’t bluster their way through this and there is an openness to collaborating in a way that perhaps they were less open before,” Trudeau told the Canada-based CBC News in an end-of-year interview.
“There’s an understanding that maybe, maybe just churning out attacks against Canada isn’t going to make this problem go away,” he added. In an earlier interview with The Canadian Press news agency, Trudeau had said that his decision to make allegations in public was intended to “put a chill” on New Delhi from repeating a similar action. He claimed that his public statement came after weeks of “quiet diplomacy” that included raising the allegations with India at the highest levels.
