Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has acknowledged that he had only intelligence and no “hard evidentiary proof” when he alleged the involvement of Indian government agents in the killing of Khalistani separatist Hardeep Singh Nijjar last year. Testifying before the public inquiry into foreign interference in federal electoral processes and democratic institutions on Wednesday (October 16), Trudeau claimed Indian diplomats were collecting information on Canadians who were in disagreement with the Narendra Modi government and passing it to the highest levels within the Indian government and criminal organisations such as the Lawrence Bishnoi gang.What about a rogue element?In fact, Trudeau also had no definite answer when asked if the alleged interference was a rogue element or authorized by the responsible members of the Government of India. The Canadian government was essentially seeking India’s help to find that out, he added.“I think that is an extremely important question and that is a question that actually we have been repeatedly asking the government of India to assist us on and to get to the bottom of the question of whether it is or could be rogue elements within the government or whether it was a more systemic, systematic endeavour for the government of India...,” Trudeau said. Relied on intel reports “I was briefed on the fact that there was intelligence from Canada, and possibly from Five Eyes allies that made it fairly clear, incredibly clear, that India was involved in this... Agents of the government of India were involved in the killing of a Canadian on Canadian soil,” he said. Five Eyes network is an intelligence alliance consisting of the US, the UK, Australia, Canada and New Zealand. It is both surveillance-based and signals intelligence (SIGINT). “India had indeed done it, and we had reasons to believe that they had,” Trudeau said, adding that his government’s immediate approach was to engage with the government of India to work on this together to make sure that there was accountability. No “hard evidentiary proof” Recalling the G20 summit hosted by India in September last year, he said it was a big moment for India, and Canada “had the opportunity of making it a very uncomfortable summit” for India if it went public with these allegations. “We chose not to. We chose to continue to work behind the scenes to try and get India to cooperate with us,” he said. Trudeau said the Indian side asked for evidence “and our response was, well, it’s within your security agencies”. But the Indian side insisted on the evidence. “And at that point, it was primarily intelligence, not hard evidentiary proof. So, we said, well, let’s work together and look into your security services and maybe we can get that done,” he said. What Modi said He said he met Prime Minister Modi after the end of the G20 summit in Delhi and shared that “we knew that they were involved and expressed a real concern around it. He responded with the usual response from him, which is that we have people who are outspoken against the Indian government living in Canada that he would like to see arrested”. Trudeau said he tried to explain that there is freedom of speech in Canada to criticise governments overseas or indeed to criticise a Canadian government. “But as always, we would work with them on any evidence or any concerns they have around terrorism or incitement to hate or anything that is patently unacceptable,” he said. India “violated Canada’s sovereignty” “We launched investigations. The Indian response to these allegations and our investigations was to double down on attacks against this government, attacks against this government’s integrity, attacks against Canada in general, but also to arbitrarily eject dozens of Canadian diplomats from India,” he said. “This was a situation in which we had clear and certainly now even clearer, indications that India had violated Canada’s sovereignty,” he said. He alleged that the Indian diplomats were collecting information on Canadians who were in disagreement with the Modi government, passing along that information to the highest levels within the Indian government, and to criminal organizations like the Bishnoi gang. “...It was the RCMP determination that that chain, or that sequence, that scheme, needed to be disrupted and going public on Monday as they did” he said. MEA’s reaction As Trudeau testified before the commission, the MEA said early on Thursday what it has heard only “confirms” New Delhi’s consistent stand that Canada has “presented us no evidence” in support of the serious allegations Ottawa chose to level against India and Indian diplomats. The ministry further said, “The responsibility for the damage that this cavalier behaviour has caused to India-Canada relations lies with Prime Minister Trudeau alone.”More stories on the India-Canada...
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has acknowledged that he had only intelligence and no “hard evidentiary proof” when he alleged the involvement of Indian government agents in the killing of Khalistani separatist Hardeep Singh Nijjar last year. Testifying before the public inquiry into foreign interference in federal electoral processes and democratic institutions on Wednesday (October 16), Trudeau claimed Indian diplomats were collecting information on Canadians who were in disagreement with the Narendra Modi government and passing it to the highest levels within the Indian government and criminal organisations such as the Lawrence Bishnoi gang.What about a rogue element?In fact, Trudeau also had no definite answer when asked if the alleged interference was a rogue element or authorized by the responsible members of the Government of India. The Canadian government was essentially seeking India’s help to find that out, he added.“I think that is an extremely important question and that is a question that actually we have been repeatedly asking the government of India to assist us on and to get to the bottom of the question of whether it is or could be rogue elements within the government or whether it was a more systemic, systematic endeavour for the government of India...,” Trudeau said. Relied on intel reports “I was briefed on the fact that there was intelligence from Canada, and possibly from Five Eyes allies that made it fairly clear, incredibly clear, that India was involved in this... Agents of the government of India were involved in the killing of a Canadian on Canadian soil,” he said. Five Eyes network is an intelligence alliance consisting of the US, the UK, Australia, Canada and New Zealand. It is both surveillance-based and signals intelligence (SIGINT). “India had indeed done it, and we had reasons to believe that they had,” Trudeau said, adding that his government’s immediate approach was to engage with the government of India to work on this together to make sure that there was accountability. No “hard evidentiary proof” Recalling the G20 summit hosted by India in September last year, he said it was a big moment for India, and Canada “had the opportunity of making it a very uncomfortable summit” for India if it went public with these allegations. “We chose not to. We chose to continue to work behind the scenes to try and get India to cooperate with us,” he said. Trudeau said the Indian side asked for evidence “and our response was, well, it’s within your security agencies”. But the Indian side insisted on the evidence. “And at that point, it was primarily intelligence, not hard evidentiary proof. So, we said, well, let’s work together and look into your security services and maybe we can get that done,” he said. What Modi said He said he met Prime Minister Modi after the end of the G20 summit in Delhi and shared that “we knew that they were involved and expressed a real concern around it. He responded with the usual response from him, which is that we have people who are outspoken against the Indian government living in Canada that he would like to see arrested”. Trudeau said he tried to explain that there is freedom of speech in Canada to criticise governments overseas or indeed to criticise a Canadian government. “But as always, we would work with them on any evidence or any concerns they have around terrorism or incitement to hate or anything that is patently unacceptable,” he said. India “violated Canada’s sovereignty” “We launched investigations. The Indian response to these allegations and our investigations was to double down on attacks against this government, attacks against this government’s integrity, attacks against Canada in general, but also to arbitrarily eject dozens of Canadian diplomats from India,” he said. “This was a situation in which we had clear and certainly now even clearer, indications that India had violated Canada’s sovereignty,” he said. He alleged that the Indian diplomats were collecting information on Canadians who were in disagreement with the Modi government, passing along that information to the highest levels within the Indian government, and to criminal organizations like the Bishnoi gang. “...It was the RCMP determination that that chain, or that sequence, that scheme, needed to be disrupted and going public on Monday as they did” he said. MEA’s reaction As Trudeau testified before the commission, the MEA said early on Thursday what it has heard only “confirms” New Delhi’s consistent stand that Canada has “presented us no evidence” in support of the serious allegations Ottawa chose to level against India and Indian diplomats. The ministry further said, “The responsibility for the damage that this cavalier behaviour has caused to India-Canada relations lies with Prime Minister Trudeau alone.”More stories on the India-Canada...