India on Monday summoned the Canadian Charge d’affaires over the country’s diplomatic note naming the Indian High Commissioner and other diplomats as “persons of interest” in an ongoing probe.
The MEA summoned Cd’A Stewart Wheeler and issued him a demarche over the note, which the MEA said was “politically motivated” and “agenda of the Trudeau Government”.
“The Canadian Charge d’Affaires was summoned by Secretary (East) this evening. He was informed that the baseless targeting of the Indian High Commissioner and other diplomats and officials in Canada was completely unacceptable. It was underlined that in an atmosphere of extremism and violence, the Trudeau Government’s actions endangered their safety. We have no faith in the current Canadian Government’s commitment to ensure their security. Therefore, the Government of India has decided to withdraw the High Commissioner and other targeted diplomats and officials. It was also conveyed that India reserves the right to take further steps in response to the Trudeau Government’s support for extremism, violence and separatism against India,” MEA said in a press release.
“We have received a diplomatic communication from Canada yesterday suggesting that the Indian High Commissioner and other diplomats are ‘persons of interest’ in a matter related to an investigation in that country. The Government of India strongly rejects these preposterous imputations and ascribes them to the political agenda of the Trudeau Government that is centered around vote bank politics,” MEA said in a press release earlier today.
The MEA did not directly mention the case but the relations between the two countries hit all-time low after Canada linked Indian diplomats to the killing of Hardeep Singh Nijjar. India has time and again said that the Trudeau-led country failed to provide any evidence for the claims.
The allegations were first made by Justin Trudeau in Canada Parliament in September last year but no evidence has been shared with regards to the same so far.
“Since Prime Minister Trudeau made certain allegations in September 2023, the Canadian Government has not shared a shred of evidence with the Government of India, despite many requests from our side. This latest step follows interactions that have again witnessed assertions without any facts. This leaves little doubt that on the pretext of an investigation, there is a deliberate strategy of smearing India for political gains,” the release added.
