Canada’s Justin Trudeau claims link between Indian diplomats and Lawrence Bishnoi gang: ‘Collecting information about…’ | Latest news India

Justin Trudeau, testifying before the public inquiry into foreign interference in federal election processes and democratic institutions, alleged Wednesday that Indian diplomats gathered information about Canadians who disagree with Narendra Modi’s government and passed it on to the highest levels of Indian government. government. government and criminal organizations such as the Lawrence Bishnoi gang.

The Lawrence Bishnoi gang has a grim record of killings and extortion on Indian soil, but the Royal Canadian Mounted Police have accused it of possible involvement in the murder of Hardeep Singh Nijjar.

The RCMP named the Lawrence Bishnoi gang as an organized crime entity used by India to target members of the South Asian diaspora and Sikh separatists.

India has strongly rejected attempts by Canadian authorities to link Indian officers to criminal gangs in Canada. Official sources in the Indian government said Canada’s claim that it shared evidence with New Delhi in the case of Sikh separatist Hardeep Singh Nijjar was “simply not true.”

Justin Trudeau accused India of violating his country’s sovereignty as diplomatic tensions rise over the 2023 killing of Hardeep Nijjar in Vancouver.

During the parliamentary inquiry, Justin Trudeau took issue with what he characterized as broad efforts by Indian representatives to silence critics of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government on Canadian soil, AFP news agency reported.

Justin Trudeau further elaborated on the behavior which he said involved Indian “diplomats gathering information about Canadians who are opponents or disagree with Modi’s government.”

He added that information was then passed to “the highest levels of the Indian government,” and then “through criminal organizations such as the Lawrence Bishnoi gang, only to result in violence against Canadians on the ground.”

Trudeau claimed that India’s intimidation tactics in Canada were not limited solely to the Sikh community.

Trudeau also noted that his government could have made the allegations public when India hosted the G20 summit in September 2023, but chose not to. He met with Modi and then privately expressed his concerns.

“It was a big moment for India to welcome all the leaders of the world to New Delhi for a very important summit and we had the opportunity to make it a very awkward summit for India if we made these allegations public in advance.” , the spokesperson said. Trudeau: “We have chosen to continue to work with India behind the scenes to try to get India to work with us.”

Trudeau said that when he returned home, India’s response, especially through the media, was to attack Canada.

Trudeau later made the accusation in Parliament that the Indian government may have been involved in Niijar’s murder.

The responsibility for the damage to India-Canada ties lies solely with Trudeau: MEA

The State Department said Thursday that what it has heard only “confirms” New Delhi’s consistent position that Canada “has not provided us with evidence” to support the serious allegations Ottawa has made against India and Indian diplomats.

Trudeau acknowledged that he only had intelligence and not “hard evidence” when he alleged the involvement of Indian government agents in Nijjar’s murder.

The MEA issued a statement in response to media inquiries about Trudeau’s statement, some details of which emerged in media reports.

“What we heard today only confirms what we have consistently said all along: Canada has not provided us with any evidence to support the serious allegations it has made against India and Indian diplomats,” said MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal . a statement.

The ministry further said, “The responsibility for the damage this arrogant behavior has caused to India-Canada relations lies solely with Prime Minister Trudeau.”

(With input from agencies)