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

Following Canadas admission of reportedly leaking details about Indias foreign interference to The Washington Post former diplomat Ashok Sajjanhar charged the Canadian government with leveraging allegations against India for its own domestic political objectivesSpeaking to ANI on Wednesday Sajjanhar remarked that Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau had not provided any evidentiary proof to support his allegations of Indias involvement in the killing of Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar raising questions about the legitimacy of such serious allegations against one of the worlds largest democraciesSince 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 saidIf 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 addedHe argued that the Trudeau administrations 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 mattersIndia 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 Trudeaus government is more interested in vilifying India to secure political survival than in finding a resolutionThey 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 saidThe 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 addedThe former diplomat criticised Trudeau for disseminating what he termed halfcooked halfbaked information to international media outlets including the Washington Post rather than directly engaging with Indian officials to clarify the allegationsIf 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 halfcooked halfbaked 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 saidEarlier on Wednesday top Canadian officials reportedly admitted to leaking details about Indias 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 governments alleged role in murder extortion and coercion to The Washington Post that was not shared with the Canadian publicEarlier 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 2020The ties between India and Canada soured after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau alleged in the Canadian Parliament last year that he had credible allegations of Indias 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 antiIndia elements in their country Pannun is an Indiadesignated terrorist who holds American and Canadian citizenshipThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies 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