Trudeau’s 'One India' policy confusion exposed, India slams his cavalier attitude
- In Reports
- 12:40 PM, Oct 17, 2024
- Myind Staff
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau stated that his government has always supported the policy of "One India" to uphold India's territorial integrity. However, he claimed that India has undermined Canada's democracy in response to this support. The Ottawa government either ignored or simply refused to take any action, allowing anti-Indian acts to continue, despite India's repeated concerns about pro-Khalistan elements operating in Canada long before the current diplomatic dispute.
The Prime Minister's comments during his Wednesday testimony before the nation's Foreign Interference Commission came amid the ongoing dispute between Canada and India, which intensified earlier this week when New Delhi expelled six Canadian diplomats and summoned its top envoy to Ottawa. He also acknowledged during the deposition that his government had only "intelligence and no proof" against India for the shooting death of Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar in British Columbia last year, which prompted India to condemn him even more.
"'One India' is the official Canadian policy, and the fact that there are a number of people in Canada who advocate otherwise does not make it Canadian policy but also does not make it something that is illegal in Canada," he said. However, he asserted that the Indian government decided "instead to attack Canada and Canadians" in its response to Ottawa, particularly through the media.
Furthermore, Trudeau claimed that India threatened "and, quite frankly, the integrity of our democracy" undermining the Canadian government. The Prime Minister stated that the Canadian public should be informed that the police had begun their investigations and that authorities had information regarding the accusations connected to Nijjar's murder, solely for the sake of public safety.
"But India's response to these allegations and our investigations was to double down attacks against Canada, this government's integrity and also to arbitrarily eject dozens of Canadian diplomats over absolutely no cause, other than to say, 'we don't like what you said'." "Picking a fight with a significant trading partner with whom we have deep people-to-people ties and a long history and our fellow democracies" is not something Trudeau wants to end up in.
The Prime Minister claimed that "Indian diplomats were collecting information on Canadians who are opponents or in disagreement with the Modi government" as he stepped up his attacks against India. According to him, the information was initially sent to the highest level of the Indian government before being used for violent acts on Canadian territory through criminal groups like the Lawrence Bishnoi gang.
Trudeau's comments coincided with the New Delhi government's repeated accusations against Canada for making unfounded claims without supporting documentation. He made similar charges during a press conference on Tuesday evening, claiming that Canadian law enforcement had "repeatedly refused" their "several attempts" to cooperate with their Indian counterparts.
However, India criticised Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's "cavalier behaviour" in a scathing statement after he admitted that he had no "hard evidentiary proof" and only "intelligence-based speculation" about the alleged involvement of Indian agents in the murder of Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar.
"What we have heard today only confirms what we have been saying consistently all along — Canada has presented us (India) no evidence whatsoever in support of the serious allegations that it has chosen to level against India and Indian diplomats," the Ministry of External Affairs remarked in a late-night statement.
The foreign ministry directly accused Trudeau of being responsible for the ongoing diplomatic impasse between the two countries, which has resulted in diplomats being expelled in tit-for-tat manoeuvres. The dispute has been going on for a year and has caused bilateral relations to reach a new low. "The responsibility for the damage that this cavalier behaviour has caused to India-Canada relations lies with Prime Minister Trudeau alone," it added.
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