“Organised Crime, Extremism…”: S Jaishankar’s Sharp Attack On Canada Over Hardeep Singh Nijjar Killing

New Delhi: While responding to allegations by Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau that there is a “potential link” between the Indian government and the killing of the pro-Khalistan leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said on Tuesday that India had conveyed to Ottawa it was not “Government of India’s policy”.

Responding to a question during an interaction at the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) in New York, Jaishankar said, “Yes, I do have a comment. I’ll share with you very frankly what we told the Canadians. One, we told the Canadians that this is not the Government of India’s policy. Two, we told the Canadians that look, if you have something specific, if you have something relevant, let us know. We are open to looking at it”.

The minister’s comments came amid public statements from the US, among other friendly nations, stressing the importance of India cooperating with Canada on the investigation into Nijjar’s killing. India has maintained that it has not received any specific evidence, though Canada has claimed otherwise.

“You also have to appreciate that in the last few years, Canada actually has seen a lot of organised crime relating to the secessionist forces, organised crime, violence, extremism. They’re all very, very deeply mixed up,” he said.

“We have actually been badgering the Canadians, we have given them a lot of information about organised crime leadership, which operates out of Canada. There are a large number of extradition requests. There are terrorist leaders who have been identified.”