'Deadliest attack' in Canada's history: PM Carney remembers Kanishka victims

Ottawa, Jun 23 (PTI) Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney on Tuesday described the Air India Flight 182 Kanishka bombing 41 years ago as the “deadliest attack in our country’s history”, saying that Canada stands against violent extremism in all its forms.

The Montreal-New Delhi Air India ‘Kanishka’ Flight 182 exploded 45 minutes before it was to have landed at London’s Heathrow Airport on June 23, 1985, killing all 329 people on board, most of them Canadians of Indian descent.

The bombing was blamed on Sikh militants in retaliation to ‘Operation Bluestar’ to flush out militants from the Golden Temple in 1984.

“Forty-one years ago today, the bombing of Air India Flight 182 claimed 329 innocent lives, including 268 Canadians. It remains the deadliest

terrorist attack in Canada’s history,” the prime minister said in a statement.

“On this National Day of Remembrance for Victims of Terrorism, we honour the victims of Flight 182 and all those who have lost their lives to acts of terrorism and violent extremism. We stand with the survivors, families, and communities who carry this loss,” he said.

The National Day of Remembrance for Victims of Terrorism was first observed on June 23, 2005, with the day chosen to coincide with the anniversary of the Kanishka tragedy.

Carney said that the “legacy of Air India Flight 182 demands remembrance, but also vigilance.” “Canada’s government is confronting and condemning violent extremism in all its forms, with new legislation to defend the safety and security of Canadians, strengthen our national security institutions, and disrupt terrorist financing and support networks.

“We are supporting frontline community-based intervention programmes and providing our security agencies with stronger tools to better detect, prevent, and disrupt terrorist activity.

“The first job of the government is to protect Canadians, and that will always be our mission and our focus,” he said.

Canada and India initiated a series of measures to rebuild relations after Carney became the prime minister in March last year.

The ties between the two countries hit rock bottom following then-prime minister Justin Trudeau’s allegations in 2023 of a potential Indian link to the killing of Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar in Canada. PTI GRS GRS GRS