Indian envoy Sanjay Kumar Verma, who was recalled after Canada said senior diplomats were “persons of interest” in the Hardeep Singh Nijjar murder probe, has alleged that Khalistani extremists and terrorists are “deep assets” of Canada Security Intelligence Service (CSIS).
In an interview with Canada-based CTV News, Verma said the Justin Trudeau government encouraged Khalistani extremists “all the time”.
“This is my allegation, I also know that some of these Khalistani extremists and terrorists are deep assets of CSIS, again I’m not giving any evidence,” he said.
The Justin Trudeau government has alleged that Indian agents were involved in the murder of Khalistani separatist Nijjar. India called the allegation absurd and motivated.
India has also been pressing the Canadian government to provide concrete evidence proving their allegation. Last week, Canadian PM Trudeau said at an inquiry that the government’s claims were based on intelligence, not hard evidence.
Envoy Verma exhorted the Canadian regime to understand India’s core concerns.
“We only want the Canadian regime of the day, the government of the day, to understand my core concerns sincerely rather than being bedfellows with those who are trying to challenge Indian sovereignty and territorial integrity,” he said.
He said Khalistani extremists are Canadian citizens who are challenging the sovereignty of another nation.
“What happens in India will be decided by Indian Citizens. These Khalistani extremists are not Indian citizens, they are Canadian citizens and no country should allow its citizens to challenge the sovereignty of another nation,” he added.
Verma denied all charges levelled against him by Canada on Nijjar’s murder. “No evidence presented. Politically motivated,” he added.
He denied allegations of directing or coercing individuals to gather information on pro-Khalistani activists, including Nijjar.
“I as High Commissioner of India had never done anything of that kind,” he said.
He explained that monitoring pro-Khalistani elements in Canada is a matter of national interest, and his team gathers information through open sources.
“We read the newspapers, we read their statements since we understand Punjabi, so we read their social media posts and try to infer from there,” Verma said.
India and Canada’s ties hit rock bottom after the Trudeau government communicated with New Delhi that its diplomats were persons of interest in the Nijjar murder. India trashed the allegations and recalled its senior diplomats. It expelled six senior Canadian diplomats.
With inputs from ANI
