Canada cannot ignore the ‘problem’ created with the killing of Nijjar, Trudeau says on India ties

Toronto: Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has said that India and his country should “get along” but he cannot ignore the “problem” created with the killing of pro-Khalistan figure Hardeep Singh Nijjar in Surrey, British Columbia, on June 18 last year.

In an interaction with Punjabi-language media in Toronto, Trudeau said, “Canada and India are the world’s two largest democracies, us by size, them by population. And we should be able to get along.”

The interaction, which took place on Sunday, was aired by the network Y Media on Wednesday evening. Referring to the Nijjar killing, Trudeau said, “It’s a problem in our relations with India because we cannot ignore that.”

The interaction took place soon after Trudeau addressed a Khalsa Day event in Toronto where there was a significant presence of pro-Khalistan elements, with anti-India banners and separatist flags and he was greeted with secessionist chants at he entered and exited the podium.

However, Trudeau made it clear supporting Khalistan, if done peacefully, will not be prevented by Ottawa. He said, “You get to support whatever beliefs you have, that’s part of what makes Canada a free country.”

“Our job is not to crack down on political protest, that’s something we allow in Canada,” he added.

India has already lodged a protest over the Sunday Vaisakhi parade and Canada’s Deputy High Commissioner was also called in by the Ministry of External Affairs in this regard on Monday.

However, the status quo is likely to persist, as Trudeau said, “We will always follow up when our fellow countries have expressed concerns about behaviour, about violence, about criminality. We take them seriously. What we will not do, however, is go after people because they’re saying things that the Indian government doesn’t like, things that the Indian government disagrees with.”

Trudeau asserted that Canada “always stood very strongly against terrorism, against violence, against intimidation”.

Trudeau described India as “an important partner” when it came to people-to-people and business relations as well as cooperation on international issues like climate change, but the Nijjar murder will continue to be a sticking point till the matter is resolved to Canada’s satisfaction. He said, “We want to get through this challenging situation but there needs to be accountability.”

Relations between the two countries touched a nadir in September after Trudeau’s statement in the House of Commons that there were “credible allegations” of a potential link between Indian agents and Nijjar’s killing.