Hardeep Nijjar killing | S Jaishankar reacts as 3 Indians arrested by Canada: ‘Will wait for…’

External affairs minister S Jaishankar addresses the media during a press conference in Bhubaneswar on May 4.

External affairs minister S Jaishankar on Saturday said what is happening in election-bound Canada over the killing of Khalistan separatist Hardeep Singh Nijjar is mostly due to their internal politics and has nothing to do with India. S Jaishankar contended that Canada accuses India of wrongdoing without substantiating its claims.

S Jaishankar was replying to a question on why Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is criticising India. The external affairs minister’s response, during an interaction with senior journalists during a visit to Bhubaneswar, comes after Canadian police charged the three on Friday over the murder of Hardeep Singh Nijjar and said they were probing whether the suspects had links to the Indian government.

Jaishankar said India will wait for Canadian police to share information on the three Indian men it has arrested. The minister said he had seen news of the arrests and said the suspects “apparently are Indians of some kind of gang background… we will have to wait for the police to tell us.”

Also Read | Men arrested in Hardeep Nijjar’s killing may be members of Lawrence Bishnoi gang, claims Canadian media

“But, as I said, one of our concerns which we have been telling them is that, you know, they have allowed organised crime from India, specifically from Punjab, to operate in Canada,” Reuters quoted Jaishankar as saying.

S Jaishankar also said India needs a strong and active prime minister like Narendra Modi to bring further reforms in various sectors, including external affairs, to make a “Viksit Bharat (developed India)”.

“India’s image globally is now actually much much higher than it had been ever… Canada is an exception. You see the different country heads are praising Bharat and its Prime Minister,” news agency PTI quoted Jaishankar as saying.

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The EAM said a section of pro-Khalistan people is using Canada’s democracy, creating a lobby and has become a vote bank. The ruling party in Canada has no majority in Parliament and some parties depend on pro-Khalistan leaders, Jaishankar claimed.

“We have convinced them several times not to give visa, legitimacy or political space to such people which is causing problems for them (Canada), for us and also for our relationship,” Jaishankar was quoted as saying by PTI.

But the Canadian government, Jaishankar said, was yet to do anything. According to Jaishankar, India has sought the extradition of 25 people, most of whom are pro-Khalistan, but Canada did not pay any heed.

The three Indians were arrested in the city of Edmonton in Alberta on Friday, police said. The Royal Canadian Mounted Police revealed that three Indian citizens living in Edmonton had been arrested. Karan Brar and Kamalpreet Singh, both 22, and Karanpreet Singh, 28, have each been charged with first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit murder.

Also Read | Canadian authorities charge three persons in connection with the killing of Hardeep Singh Nijjar

Hardeep Singh Nijjar, 45, was shot dead in June last year outside a Sikh temple in Surrey, a Vancouver suburb with a large Sikh population. A few months later, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau cited credible allegations of Indian government involvement, prompting a diplomatic row with New Delhi. India has dismissed Justin Trudeau’s charges as “absurd” and “motivated”.

Hardeep Singh Nijjar was a Canadian citizen campaigning for the creation of Khalistan. The presence of Sikh separatist groups in Canada has long frustrated New Delhi, which had labelled Nijjar a “terrorist”.

Canadian police said they had worked with US law enforcement agencies without giving additional details and suggested more detentions might be coming.

“Canada did not give any proof. They do not share any evidence with us in certain cases, police agencies also do not cooperate with us. It is their political compulsion in Canada to blame India. As election is coming in Canada, they indulge in vote bank politics,” Jaishankar said on Saturday.

Sanjay Verma, India’s high commissioner to Canada, said that it hopes to get regular updates from Canadian authorities regarding the three arrested Indians, Reuters reported.

“I understand that the arrests have been made as a result of investigations conducted by the relevant Canadian law enforcement agencies. This issue is internal to Canada and therefore, we have no comments to offer in this regard,” Sanjay Verma said.

(With inputs from agencies)

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