Justin Trudeau accused India of making a “horrible mistake” by violating Canadian sovereignty, amid a growing diplomatic row over the killing of a Sikh separatist in British Columbia and accusations of a broader campaign of threats and violence against exiles. Indians.
Testifying at a public inquiry into foreign interference on Wednesday, the Canadian prime minister accused Delhi of rejecting cooperation efforts and provoking an increasingly bitter public dispute that resulted in the mutual expulsion of top diplomats on Monday.
“We are not seeking to provoke or create a fight with India,” Trudeau said. “The Indian government made a horrible mistake by thinking it could interfere as aggressively as it did in the security and sovereignty of Canada. “We need to respond to ensure the safety of Canadians.”
In his most detailed comments on the saga so far, Trudeau said Canada had not wanted to “blow up” its valued relationship with India.
But he said that after Hardeep Singh Nijjar, a Canadian citizen, was shot dead outside a Sikh temple in British Columbia last June, “we had clear and certainly now increasingly clear indications that India had violated Canada's sovereignty.” ”.
Trudeau made a series of explosive statements, including claims that highly classified intelligence suggested members of the opposition Conservative Party were “engaged in or at high risk of” being part of foreign interference efforts. His comments came in a tumultuous week in which Canadian police accused Indian diplomats of working with a criminal network led by a jailed notorious gangster to attack Sikh dissidents in the country. India has rejected the allegations as “ridiculous”.
Responding to Trudeau's comments, a spokesperson for India's foreign ministry said: “What we heard today only confirms what we have been saying consistently from the beginning: Canada has not presented us with any evidence in support of the serious accusations that he has decided level against India and Indian diplomats. Responsibility for the damage this arrogant behavior has caused to India-Canada relations lies solely with Prime Minister Trudeau.”
Trudeau said Canadian officials privately shared evidence with their Indian counterparts who he said have not been cooperative.
“The RCMP's decision to move forward with that announcement was based entirely on public safety and the goal of disrupting the chain of activity that was resulting in drive-by shootings, home invasions, violent extortions and even murders in Canada and throughout Canada”. Trudeau said.
The prime minister said Canadian authorities first raised Nijjar's murder during the 2023 G20 summit in New Delhi. Officials working “behind the scenes” told the Indians that “there are real concerns that their security agencies were involved in the murder,” he said.
But when Trudeau confronted Narendra Modi on the final day of the summit, the Indian prime minister told him that Canada should do more to suppress Sikh separatists, he said.
And despite Canadian efforts to engage with Indian officials, Trudeau said, they did not seem interested in “taking advantage of the off-ramp” offered.
Since Trudeau first spoke to Parliament about a “potential link” between the Indian government and Nijjar's murder, Ottawa and Delhi have been locked in an escalating dispute over the issue.
India temporarily stopped issuing visas in Canada and on Monday Canada expelled six top diplomats, including High Commissioner Sanjay Verma. India retaliated by ordering the expulsion of six senior Canadian diplomats, including the acting high commissioner.
Trudeau's latest statement comes as Canada seeks to convince allied nations to also condemn India's alleged actions, an effort that has so far produced mixed results.
Earlier on Wednesday, the UK asked India to cooperate with Canadian legal authorities to investigate the allegations, following a phone call between Trudeau and UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer.
The British Foreign Office said: “We are in contact with our Canadian partners about the serious developments outlined in independent investigations in Canada. “The United Kingdom has full confidence in Canada’s judicial system… The Indian government’s cooperation with Canada’s legal process is the right next step.”
As Canada's allegations have widened, it has become more difficult for its allies in the 5 Eyes intelligence partnership to remain silent.
Canada's federal police alleged on Monday that Indian diplomats have worked with criminal gangs to orchestrate a campaign of extortion, intimidation and coercion against members of Canada's South Asian community, resulting in homicides, home invasions, shootings from vehicles and arson. Since September 2023, at least 13 people have been “warned by the RCMP of serious threats against them,” according to a coalition of lawmakers.
During his testimony, Trudeau also warned that Conservative lawmakers were involved in or vulnerable to foreign interference.
“I have the names of several MPs, former MPs and/or candidates of the Conservative Party of Canada who are committed [in] or at high risk or for whom there is clear intelligence about foreign interference,” Trudeau said.
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre has so far refused to obtain the security clearance necessary to be informed of the full extent of his party's involvement, Trudeau said.
Trudeau also told the committee that parliament's intelligence and national security committee found evidence of foreign interference during the Conservative leadership convention, which Poilievre won in 2022.
“The fact that there was absolutely no curiosity or openness in trying to find out what happened or whether anyone was compromised or whether a foreign country influenced those leadership races is just irresponsible,” Trudeau said.
In a statement, Poilievre called on Trudeau to name compromised lawmakers and accused the prime minister of “lying to distract from a Liberal caucus revolt against his leadership and from revelations that he knowingly allowed Beijing to interfere and “It will help him win two elections.”
Trudeau told the committee that he received intelligence information in his role as prime minister but did not use it for “partisan” benefit. “I don't believe in using national security information for partisan purposes,” he said.
A parliamentary public safety committee confirmed it will launch an emergency study into RCMP allegations that Indian government agents have been involved in violent crimes in Canada.