Asked about the allegation that gangster Lawrence Bishnoi was working for the Indian govt, official sources said Canada had not provided any “specifics” to back its claim.
“The central assertion from all Canadian officials is that credible evidence has been presented to India. This was also repeated by their charge d’affaires to the press. This is simply not true.From the very beginning, the Canadian approach has been to make vague accusations and put the burden of denial on India,” said an official, responding to remarks made by Trudeau and Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP).
“At the RCMP press briefing, assertions were made about connections of certain individuals to India. In no case were any specifics provided. There was also talk about holding people accountable. But it was never made clear who and for what,” added the official, describing as absurd that after intensively engaging Indian high commissioner Sanjay Verma over the last year, the Canadian govt had chosen to target him. Verma was among the six Indian diplomats “expelled” by Canada on Monday. India, however, had said it had recalled Verma and expelled six Canadian diplomats.
Speaking in the same press conference, Joly did not rule out sanctions against India. “So today was a really important step. When you look at what is available in our toolbox, expelling diplomats is one of the highest and toughest measures a country can take under Vienna Convention. Everything is on the table,” she said when asked about the possibility of sanctions.
“Justin Trudeau again fails to provide compelling evidence to the public after escalating the tensions with India. Diplomats have been expelled and we are still in the ‘trust me bro’ phase. This could end up costing Canada billions in trade. All to appease Jagmeet and the gang of Khalistani ministers,” a Canadian geopolitical analyst tweeted.
Trudeau though maintained in remarks at a press conference and a lengthy statement that Canada had “clear and compelling evidence that agents of the govt of India have engaged in, and continue to engage in, activities that pose a significant threat to public safety”, and New Delhi had rebuffed several Canadian attempts to apprise India of it.
“This includes clandestine information gathering techniques, coercive behaviour targeting South Asian Canadians, and involvement in over a dozen threatening and violent acts, including murder. This is unacceptable,” Trudeau said.
He added that the evidence brought to light by the RCMP could not be ignored.
“It leads to one conclusion: it is necessary to disrupt the criminal activities that continue to pose a threat to public safety in Canada. That is why we acted. Because we will always — first and foremost — stand for the right of Canadians to feel safe and secure in their own country,” he said.
“Once again, we call on India govt to cooperate with us on this investigation, to put an end to its inaction and misleading rhetoric, to recognise the credibility and severity of the evidence and information we have shared so far, and to reiterate, in no uncertain terms, that its position on extrajudicial operations abroad will henceforth be unequivocally aligned with international law,” Trudeau added.