India has said that its economic ties with Canada are robust and strong, and the current crisis in the relationship has been precipitated by the Trudeau government’s “baseless allegations”.
“We have a large Indian diaspora resident in Canada. Our students form the largest cohort of international students in the country. Several large Canadian pension funds are invested in the country (India). Canada is a large beneficiary of the linkages and ties. The current crisis in the relationship has been precipitated by the Trudeau government’s baseless allegations,” Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) Spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said at a press briefing on Thursday.
Replying to a query on processing of visas, Jaiswal said that there was no stoppage on processing of Indian visas for Canadians and Indian diplomats and counsellors, who continued to work in the country, would process “whatever visas they can”.
Ongoing probe
On the ongoing investigations in Canada on the killing of Canadian Sikh separatist leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar and the alleged involvement of Indian officials, Jaiswal reiterated that no evidence has been shared in support of the serious allegations against New Delhi.
Jaiswal further said that Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, while testifying before the public inquiry into foreign interference in federal electoral processes and democratic institutions, acknowledged that he had only intelligence and no hard evidentiary proof when he alleged the involvement of Indian government agents in the killing of Nijjar last year.
“What we have heard today only confirms what we have been saying consistently all along — Canada has presented us no evidence whatsoever in support of the serious allegations that it has chosen to level against India and Indian diplomats. The responsibility for the damage that this cavalier behaviour has caused to India-Canada relations lies with Prime Minister Trudeau alone,” Jaiswal had earlier said in a statement in response to media queries regarding Trudeau’s deposition at the Commission of Inquiry.