'Horrific mistake': Justin Trudeau accuses India of interfering in Canada's sovereignty

Canada decided to go public with “more explosive allegations” against India over the killing of a Sikh separatist on its soil after concluding that New Delhi was not taking seriously its appeals to cooperate on the issue, said Canadian PM Justin Trudeau on Wednesday.

“If the RCMP (Royal Canadian Mounted Police) had its druthers, it wouldn’t have revealed any of this. It’s just that it hit the threshold” before cases were ready to come to court, he told the Hogue commission of inquiry into foreign interference. In his testimony, Trudeau detailed Canada’s failure in behind-the-scenes attempts to get India on board in co-operating with police probe as bilateral ties grew frosty.

‘Didn’t want to disrupt ties’

He said his government’s initial strategy was to have senior intelligence and government officials attempt to persuade Indian intelligence officials to co-operate. He said he did not want to cause a major disruption to the relationship with a democratic ally as well as trading partner.

Also Read: India expels 6 Canadian diplomats, withdraws envoy, ‘targeted’ officials from Canada

He said Canada’s policy was to respect the “territorial integrity and the sovereignty of India. We certainly expect India to respect the sovereignty of Canada, which in this case, they have not”.

“We are not looking to provoke or create a fight with India,” Trudeau said. “The Indian government made a horrific mistake in thinking that they could interfere as aggressively as they did in the safety and sovereignty of Canada,” he added.

Nijjar’s killing

Trudeau said attempts were made to seek India's cooperation in August and September but this did not lead to anywhere.

Relations between India and Canada nosedived after Canada alleged that Indian agents were involved in the June 2023 killing of Hardeep Singh Nijjar, a Sikh-Canadian described as a Khalistani activist in India.

It led to the expulsion of 41 Canadian diplomats and consular personnel by India in October last year. The latest charge by Trudeau has triggered a tit-for-tat expulsion of six diplomats each.

The Canadian premier admitted that the initial assessment of the Nijjar murder was that it was “gang-related or criminal related”. But later, he said, he was told that there was credible intelligence that agents of the Indian government were involved in the killing.

“In late July, early August, I was briefed on the fact that there was intelligence from Canada, and possibly from Five Eyes (intelligence-sharing) allies that made it fairly clear, incredibly clear, that India was involved in this.”

Refused to cooperate

He said Canada’s requests for cooperation from Indian officials were met with questions that Ottawa should provide evidence it had against India.

Trudeau said when he raised the issue with Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the G20 meeting hosted by India in September 2023, the Indian leader came up with the “usual response”.

Modi also said that India wanted Canada to take action against those New Delhi deems pro-Khalistan separatists.

Also Read: Nijjar murder: India rebukes Trudeau over allegations, demands proof

Upset by Indian attacks

Trudeau said he told Modi that “One India is official Canadian policy” but that there are people in Canada who think otherwise does not make it Canadian policy.

He said that India’s response “was to attack Canada, Canadians, to criticise us, to undermine our government and quite frankly, the integrity of our democracy”.

Trudeau said the latest decision to go public with even more explosive allegations on Monday was made after the RCMP determined there was a real public safety threat and that India was not taking Canada’s plea for investigative cooperation seriously.

Promoting violence

He said there had been drive-by shootings, home invasions and violent extortion and even murder in and across Canada, particularly in the South Asian community.

The agents acting at India’s behest, he said, were taking “covert, clandestine or coercive measures, threatening to withhold family visas, paying sources, a range of things”.

Canada’s allies have come out in its support, with the US and Britain calling on India to cooperate with the investigations.

Rogue elements to blame?

Trudeau said a big question for Canada was whether “rogue elements” within the Indian government were responsible “or whether it was a more systemic, systematic endeavour for the government of India.”

Also Read: Indian govt agents linked with Lawrence Bishnoi gang: Canadian police

Trudeau said the extent of the interference seemed to show there are “two goals.” One was to make Canadians, particularly South Asian Canadians, feel “less safe here in their own country,” he said.

The second, he said, was that India had “decided to create violence and unlawfulness in Canada as a way of demonstrating the point that they are trying to make, that there is violence and unlawfulness in Canada. And I think that is exceptionally egregious … as an approach to a … sovereign democracy”.