"Only objective was to vilify India for his domestic vote bank politics": Former diplomat Ashok Sajjanhar on India-Canada row

Canadian PM Justin Trudeau. Pic/X

Following Canada's admission of reportedly leaking details about India's foreign interference to The Washington Post, former diplomat Ashok Sajjanhar charged the Canadian government with leveraging allegations against India for its own domestic political objectives.

Speaking to ANI on Wednesday, Sajjanhar remarked that Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau had not provided any evidentiary proof to support his allegations of India's involvement in the killing of Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar, raising questions about the legitimacy of such serious allegations against one of the world's largest democracies.

"Since the 18th of September, 2023, when Justin Trudeau got up in the Canadian Parliament and said that he had credible allegations, I think ever since then, there have been more and more skeletons that have been coming out of the cupboard. A few weeks ago, he said that when he made this remark on the 18th of September last year, he did not have any evidentiary proof," Sajjanhar said

"If the head of a government without any evidentiary proof can slander the largest democracy in the world and say that they are the ones who are behind the killing of a terrorist... even now he has not been able to or the Canadian government has not been able to provide any evidence. This is deplorable the manner in which the Canadian authorities have acted," the former diplomat added.

He argued that the Trudeau administration's approach appears to be politically motivated, particularly as it seeks to maintain support from the New Democratic Party (NDP) and its leader Jagmeet Singh Dhaliwal, who has connections to the Khalistani separatist movement. Sajjanhar emphasised that if Canada genuinely aimed to investigate the allegations, it would have pursued a more diplomatic route, similar to how the US engages with India on sensitive matters.

India, according to Sajjanhar, has been forthcoming with American authorities, showcasing a willingness to cooperate. However, he stated that the Canadians took an entirely different approach, suggesting that Trudeau's government is more interested in vilifying India to secure political survival than in finding a resolution.

"They have been looking at maligning India for their domestic political ends, objectives, and otherwise, because if they had wanted to come to some sort of conclusion, find out details, etc., they would have, like the Americans, come to the Indians, provided some evidence, and say, OK, with this evidence, please carry out your own investigations and then come back and we will have a conversation... And India has been very forthright and forthcoming as far as the Americans are concerned. But the Canadians took an entirely different approach," he said.

"The only objective was to vilify India for his domestic vote bank politics because he knows for his survival. He needs to reach out to the Khalistani separatist elements and the party that is... these Khalistani separatists have floated the new Democratic Party by Jagmeet Singh Dhaliwal, and to get some support from them," Sajjanhar added.

The former diplomat criticised Trudeau for disseminating what he termed "half-cooked, half-baked information" to international media outlets, including the Washington Post, rather than directly engaging with Indian officials to clarify the allegations.

"If his (Trudeau) intention was to get to the bottom of this, there would have been an entirely different approach that he would have followed and not gone around sort of sharing all this half-cooked, half-baked information with not only the Washington Post, but he said, partners and those who think like us in other countries in the UK, in the US and so on and so forth," he said.

Earlier on Wednesday, top Canadian officials reportedly admitted to leaking details about India's foreign interference to The Washington Post, The Globe and Mail reported. According to the report, Prime Minister 's national security and intelligence adviser Nathalie Drouin has confirmed she leaked sensitive information about the Indian government's alleged role in murder, extortion and coercion to The Washington Post that was not shared with the Canadian public.

Earlier this month, India recalled six diplomats from Canada after they were declared "persons of interest" by the Canadian government in the investigation into the killing of Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar. Nijjar was shot and killed outside a Gurdwara in Surrey in June last year. Nijjar, who held Canadian citizenship, was designated a terrorist by the National Investigation Agency in 2020.

The ties between India and Canada soured after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau alleged in the Canadian Parliament last year that he had "credible allegations" of India's hand in the killing of Nijjar. India has denied all the allegations, calling them "absurd" and "motivated," and has accused Canada of giving space to extremist and anti-India elements in their country. Pannun is an India-designated terrorist who holds American and Canadian citizenship.

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