- December 13, 2023
‘To deter India…’: Canadian PM Justin Trudeau speaks on accusation linked to Nijjar’s killing | India News – Times of India
NEW DELHI: Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has claimed that his public allegation linking Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar’s killing to an Indian official was intended to deter India from resorting to similar action.
The Canadian prime minister said the message he delivered in the House of Commons was an extra “level of deterrence” to keep Canadians safer.
Trudeau, in an interview with Canada-based CTV News, said that he disclosed on September 18 the alleged “Indian links” behind Nijjar’s killing because he expected the information to eventually leak through the media.
The Canadian prime minister said he also “wanted Canadians to know the government was on top of the situation”.
“Too many Canadians were worried that they were vulnerable,” Trudeau said in the interview, adding the “Sikh community in BC had been raising concerns since shortly after Nijjar was killed.”
“We felt that all the quiet diplomacy and all the measures that we put in — and ensured that our security services put in to keep people safe in the community — needed a further level of deterrence, perhaps of saying publicly and loudly that we know, or we have credible reasons to believe, that the Indian government was behind this,” he said.
“And therefore put a chill on them continuing or considering doing anything like this,” Trudeau claimed.
India has rejected allegations made by the Canadian government regarding Nijjar’s killing.
In a statement, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) termed the allegations ‘absurd’ and ‘motivated’. The government said that the allegations were aimed at diverting attention from Khalistani terrorists and extremists who are given shelter in Canada.
According to CTV News, Trudeau on Monday claimed that the Indian government chose to attack and undermine them with misinformation after he had made the allegations public.
“They chose to attack us and undermine us with a scale of misinformation and disinformation in their media that was comical,” Trudeau said.
“(It) would have been more comical had it not had real implications for people’s lives and relations between our two countries that are so deep in terms of people-to-people ties, and people depending on the flow of connections between us,” he added.
The Canadian prime minister said the message he delivered in the House of Commons was an extra “level of deterrence” to keep Canadians safer.
Trudeau, in an interview with Canada-based CTV News, said that he disclosed on September 18 the alleged “Indian links” behind Nijjar’s killing because he expected the information to eventually leak through the media.
The Canadian prime minister said he also “wanted Canadians to know the government was on top of the situation”.
“Too many Canadians were worried that they were vulnerable,” Trudeau said in the interview, adding the “Sikh community in BC had been raising concerns since shortly after Nijjar was killed.”
“We felt that all the quiet diplomacy and all the measures that we put in — and ensured that our security services put in to keep people safe in the community — needed a further level of deterrence, perhaps of saying publicly and loudly that we know, or we have credible reasons to believe, that the Indian government was behind this,” he said.
“And therefore put a chill on them continuing or considering doing anything like this,” Trudeau claimed.
India has rejected allegations made by the Canadian government regarding Nijjar’s killing.
In a statement, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) termed the allegations ‘absurd’ and ‘motivated’. The government said that the allegations were aimed at diverting attention from Khalistani terrorists and extremists who are given shelter in Canada.
According to CTV News, Trudeau on Monday claimed that the Indian government chose to attack and undermine them with misinformation after he had made the allegations public.
“They chose to attack us and undermine us with a scale of misinformation and disinformation in their media that was comical,” Trudeau said.
“(It) would have been more comical had it not had real implications for people’s lives and relations between our two countries that are so deep in terms of people-to-people ties, and people depending on the flow of connections between us,” he added.
(With ANI input)
