New Delhi has rejected a Canadian minister’s allegation that Indian Home Minister Amit Shah had ordered the targeting of Khalistan supporters in the country. India on Thursday summoned a Canadian diplomat posted in Delhi, calling the allegation “unfounded and baseless”.
Earlier on Tuesday, Canadian Deputy Foreign Minister David Morrison told members of the country’s Standing Committee on Public Safety and National Security that Indian Home Minister Amit Shah had ordered violence, intimidation and intelligence gathering targeting Khalistan supporters living in Canada.
Responding to a question on Friday, Indian Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said that a representative of the Canadian High Commission was summoned on Thursday and a diplomatic note was handed over to him.
He said, the note stated that the Indian government strongly protests the unreasonable and baseless allegations made against the Union Home Minister of India by the Committee of Deputy Minister David Morrison.
The US media outlet Washington Post first reported the Canadian allegations against Amit Shah. David Morrison confirmed the name of Amit Shah to the Washington Post.
In this regard, the Indian Ministry of External Affairs said that it proves that high-ranking Canadian officials have deliberately leaked baseless claims to the media. Jaiswal warned that such a move would have “serious consequences” for India-Canada relations.
Randhir Jaiswal said that high-ranking Canadian officials have deliberately leaked baseless claims to the international media as part of a conscious strategy to discredit India and influence other countries. This confirms the perception that the Indian government has had for a long time about the political agenda and behavior of the current Canadian government. Such irresponsible actions will have serious consequences for bilateral relations.
India calls Sikh separatists ‘terrorists’ and considers them a threat to its security. However, Sikh separatists have been agitating for the establishment of an independent homeland called Khalistan on Indian soil. Thousands of people were killed in an insurgency in India in the 1980s and 1990s.
That period also includes the 1984 anti-Sikh riots. Thousands were killed after the assassination of then Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi by her Sikh bodyguards. Indira Gandhi was killed by her bodyguards after she ordered security forces to storm a holy Sikh temple to flush out Sikh separatists.
Earlier, Canada announced the expulsion of Indian diplomats in mid-October. Ottawa took this step in response to the 2023 killing of Sikh separatist leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar on Canadian soil. India has also ordered the expulsion of Canadian diplomats.
However, this Canadian incident is not the only example of India’s involvement in targeting Sikh separatists abroad. Washington has charged a former Indian intelligence officer named Vikas Yadav with ordering a failed plot to assassinate US-Canadian citizen and Sikh separatist leader Gurpatwant Singh Pannun in New York.
