External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said the recent arrests made by Canada in the killing of Khalistani leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar was Canada's internal matter and had nothing to do with India. He also added that India will wait for Canadian police to share information on the three Indian men it has arrested.
The Canadian police charged the three on Friday over the murder of Nijjar. All of them were Indian nationals and were arrested in the city of Edmonton in Alberta on Friday. The Canadian police added that a probe was on to establish whether the men had any links to the Indian government.
The EAM told reporters in Bhubaneswar that he had seen the news of the arrests. "The suspects, apparently, are Indians of some kind of gang background. We'll have to wait for the police to tell us. 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," said Jaishankar.
The EAM said a section of pro-Khalistan people are using Canada's democracy, creating a lobby and have become a vote bank. "The ruling party in Canada has no majority in Parliament and some parties depend on pro-Khalistan leaders. 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 said, adding that the "Canadian government has not done anything."
"India sought the extradition of 25 people, most of whom are pro-Khalistan, but they did not pay any heed," he said, adding that there was political compulsion in Canada to blame India. "As election is coming in Canada, they indulge in vote bank politics," Jaishankar added.
Meanwhile, Sanjay Verma, India's high commissioner to Canada, said he hoped to get regular updates from Canadian authorities regarding the three arrested Indians. "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," Verma was quoted by Reuters.
