New Delhi: Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is responsible for the “damage” in India’s relations with Canada, the Ministry of External Affairs said in a strongly-worded response to the Canadian premier’s admission that there was no evidence against New Delhi in the killing of Khalistani separatist leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar.
The Foreign Ministry said that Canada had failed to provide any evidence to support its allegations against India.
Diplomatic relations between New Delhi and Ottawa hit a new low last September after Trudeau claimed that India was involved in the killing of Hardeep Singh Nijjar. Trudeau revealed that when India asked for evidence, at that time it was only intelligence.
Reacting to the Canadian PM's big admission, the MEA, in a late-night release said the "cavalier behaviour" of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was responsible for the ongoing diplomatic rift with Canada.
"What we have heard today only confirms what we have been saying consistently all along — Canada has presented us no evidence whatsoever in support of the serious allegations that it has chosen to level against India and Indian diplomats. The responsibility for the damage that this cavalier behaviour has caused to India-Canada relations lies with Prime Minister Trudeau alone," the MEA said in its post-midnight statement.
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The sharp-response followed Trudeau's deposition at the foreign interference inquiry, which India termed as absurd and motivated claims.
On Wednesday, while testifying before a Commission of Inquiry, the Canadian Prime Minister admitted that his government only provided "intelligence and no proof" to India over the killing of Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar on Canadian soil.
He stated that when Canadian agencies asked India to look into the allegations, New Delhi sought proof. "At that point, it was primarily intelligence, not hard evidentiary proof," Trudeau admitted.
It may be noted that India has denied involvement in any act of violence in Canada. New Delhi has maintained that the "unsubstantiated allegation" were being made by Trudeau's government to shift the focus from Khalistani terrorists and extremists, who have been provided shelter in Canada and continue to threaten India’s sovereignty and territorial integrity. "The inaction of the Canadian Government on this matter has been a long-standing and continuing concern," the MEA said in a release last year.