Envoy on the Hardeep Nijjar Probe: “India Was Convicted Even Without…”

The fact that New Delhi was “convicted” while the inquiry into the death of Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjat on Canadian soil was still ongoing has drawn criticism from India’s High Commissioner to Canada, Sanjay Kumar Verma.

The Indian envoy urged Canada to provide evidence to support its claim that Justin Trudeau was killed and insisted that New Delhi would investigate any “very specific and relevant” information sent to them in support of that claim.

The high commissioner was questioned concerning Canadian Prime Minister Trudeau’s claims of “possible Indian government’s involvement” in terrorist Hardeep Nijjar’s death during an interview with the CTV news channel.

Mr. Verma responded to this by saying, “There are two points on it. One is that India was found guilty even before the probe was finished. Is that a legal requirement?

When questioned, “How was India convicted?” the high commissioner replied, “Because India was asked to cooperate, and if you look at the typical criminal terminology, when someone asks to cooperate, it means you have already been convicted and you better cooperate.”

Thus, we interpreted it quite differently. However, we have consistently stated that you should get in touch with us if you know of anything extremely pertinent and precise. The Indian envoy continued, “We’ll investigate it.

After Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau claimed that India was involved in the killing of Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar on Canadian grounds earlier this year, ties between India and Canada have deteriorated. On June 18, Nijjar was shot and killed outside a Gurdwara in Surrey, Canada.

After Ottawa ordered a senior Indian diplomat to leave, India responded by calling the accusations “absurd and motivated” and expelling a Canadian envoy in retaliatory action.

Notably, the Ministry of External Affairs argues that Canada has not been able to provide any proof for its allegations about the killing.

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With effect from November 22, 2023, India began offering electronic visa services to eligible Canadian nationals earlier this week. This followed India’s decision to reinstate visa services for four categories in Canada following a careful assessment of the security environment last month.