India’s cooperation right next step, says UK after Trudeau dials Starmer amid Nijjar row

As Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau rallies support for his campaign against India, the United Kingdom has backed the ongoing probes against India.

After alleging Indian involvement in the killing of Hardeep Singh Nijjar in Surrey last year, Canada this week accused India of running a full-scale espionage and organised crime network in Canada. After going public with the claims, Trudeau called British PM Sir Keir Starmer to brief him on the matter.

In a statement on Wednesday, the British Foreign Office said it had “full confidence in Canada’s judicial system”.

The Foreign Office further said, “The Government of India’s cooperation with Canada’s legal process is the right next step.”

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“We are in contact with our Canadian partners about the serious developments outlined in the independent investigations in Canada. The UK has full confidence in Canada’s judicial system. Respect for sovereignty and the rule of law is essential,” said the Foreign Office.

Last week, Canada told India that it had implicated Indian High Commissioner Sanjay Kumar Verma and other diplomats as ‘persons of interest’ in an ongoing case. Even though the public statements did not mention it, it is understood the case here refers to the Canadian allegations over Nijjar’s killing.

The next day, as India issued an unprecedented sharp statement and expelled six top Canadian diplomats, Canada upped the ante and accused India of full-fledged sabotage campaign.

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The Canadian police in a state accused India of homicides and violent acts; use of organised crime to create a perception of an unsafe environment targeting the South Asian Community in Canada; and interference into democratic processes.

“Investigations have revealed that Indian diplomats and consular officials based in Canada leveraged their official positions to engage in clandestine activities, such as collecting information for the Government of India, either directly or through their proxies; and other individuals who acted voluntarily or through coercion,” said the Canadian police.

Separately, Trudeau said that the “agents of the Government of India have engaged in, and continue to engage in, activities that pose a significant threat to public safety”. He accused India of “clandestine information gathering techniques, coercive behaviour targeting South Asian Canadians, and involvement in over a dozen threatening and violent acts, including murder”.

India has rejected Trudeau’s allegations and has dubbed his campaign against India as a tool to pander to a segment of the domestic vote bank for political gains.

Since coming to power in Canada, Trudeau has patronised the Khalistan movement and has turned Canada into a safe haven for anti-India terrorists and organised crime syndicates . Canada under Trudeau has become a home for gangsters and terrorists operating against India.

In a statement after latest escalation by Trudeau in his long-running anti-India campaign, India described the Canadian allegations as “preposterous imputations” rooted in the “political agenda of the Trudeau Government that is cantered around vote bank politics”.

The statement added, “This latest step follows interactions that have again witnessed assertions without any facts. This leaves little doubt that on the pretext of an investigation, there is a deliberate strategy of smearing India for political gains.”

The statement further said that the series of events over the past seven years under Trudeau’s government does nothing but serves the “anti-India separatist agenda that the Trudeau Government has constantly pandered to for narrow political gains”.