India's High Commissioner to Canada, Dinesh Patnaik, strongly refuted claims linking the Indian government to the murder of Hardeep Singh Nijjar in a recent
interview and in turn, accused Canadian authorities of having "failed for 40 years" to act against terrorist elements operating on their soil. He slammed Ottawa's long inaction, stating that it had created a permissive environment for extremism and violence targeting India. Responding to a question during CBC News' "Power & Politics" on allegations primarily made by former Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau that India had interfered in the country's internal affairs by killing Nijjar, Patnaik repeatedly demanded "evidence", saying accusations cannot stand without evidence. "Well, where is the evidence? Every time you keep on saying 'credible information'," the Indian envoy said, rejecting the allegations as unsubstantiated. "We have always said it's preposterous and absurd; it's something we don't do. These are allegations which have not been backed by evidence. There's always easy-to-do accusations. Accusations are easy," Patnaik added. Patnaik emphasised that the ongoing legal case in Canada does not implicate the Indian state, adding that the accusations stemmed from statements made by a former Canadian prime minister and his team, according to news agency ANI.
"You have accused us, but where have we been implicated? The case is going on in court... And the case in court is also against four individuals. Where is the case against a state? It's a talk given by a former prime minister backed by his team at that time, which he had; they had to back it. Where is the evidence on the ground?" he asked.
"We can go into who said what. At the end of the day, it's about evidence on the ground," Patnaik said, reiterating India's long-standing position that it is willing to act if credible proof is presented.
"We have said very clearly, if there is evidence ever coming out, if you provide us evidence, we will take action ourselves. We don't need you to take action on that. What we need is for you to give us evidence for us to take action," he said.
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In a pointed remark aimed at the framing of the allegations, the Indian envoy said, "When you accuse us, what happens here is my accusations need evidence. Your accusations don't need evidence, right?"
He further added, "You have accusations; you have to back it up with evidence. You can't say I accuse you, and you have to now justify yourselves."
The remarks come in the context of the strained ties between the two sides in recent years, primarily due to concerns over Canada's perceived leniency towards Khalistani separatist elements and Canada's allegations that Indian agents were involved in the killing of NIA-designated terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar outside a gurdwara in Canada in 2023.
India had strongly rejected the allegations and termed them "politically motivated".
(With agency inputs)
