Indian-Canada Row: What Are Ottawa's Allegations Against Home Minister Amit Shah?
New Delhi: The Canadian government has made the diplomatic escalation between India and Canada more visible by directly implicating Union Home Minister Amit Shah in connection with the assassination of Khalistan separatist leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar on Canadian soil last year.
Since the Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau accused Indian government agents’ involvement in the 2023 murder of Hardeep Singh Nijjar, India has been rejecting the allegations, calling them “absurd” claims without any basis or evidence. Canada had maintained that it had credible evidence for its charges against India but had not provided any documents.
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However, naming Amit Shah, Canada’s National Security and Intelligence Adviser Nathalie Drouin, and Deputy Foreign Affairs Minister David Morrison, members of the national security committee of the Canadian Parliament recently confirmed a leaked The Washington Post report alleging that India’s home minister Amit Shah was behind the campaign of targeting Khalistani separatists in Canada.
On October 29, David Morrison told a parliamentary panel that a top-ranking official in the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government was behind the plots to attack Sikh separatists in Canada. The deputy foreign minister added that the Washington Post journalist called him and asked if it was that person (the top ranking official), and he confirmed it was that person (Amit Shah).
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The United States has expressed its concern over Canada’s recent allegations naming Amit Shah, noting that it would discuss the matter with Ottawa. State Department Spokesperson Matthew Miller stated that the allegations made by the government of Canada are concerning.
The diplomatic row between the two countries started to get worse when Canada named India’s High Commissioner and a few other diplomats as ‘persons of interest’ in the Nijjar murder case and the subsequent move of the Indian government expelling six Canadian diplomats.
