Bhubaneswar (Odisha): External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Sunday said that Canada has been issuing visas to people with links to organised crime despite warnings from New Delhi.
Jaishankar's reaction came a day after Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said his is a "rule-of-law country" with a strong and independent justice system and a fundamental commitment to protect its citizens. Trudeau had spoken in the backdrop of three Indian nationals arrested in Canada earlier this week and charged with the murder of Khalistan separatist Hardeep Singh Nijjar.
Nijjar, a Canadian citizen, was shot dead outside a gurdwara in Surrey, British Columbia, on June 18, 2023.
Jaishankar, during an interaction on his book 'Why Bharat Matters' here, questioned Justin Trudeau-led dispensation for giving space and legitimacy to "extremism, separatism, and advocates of violence" in the name of free speech.
The EAM said some people in Canada, with 'pro-Pakistan leanings', have organised themselves politically and taken the shape of an influential political lobby.
On the rise of pro-Khalistani activities in Canada and the arrest of three Indians over their alleged involvement in the killing of Nijjar, Jaishankar said, "In some countries, these kinds of people have organised themselves politically and become a political lobby and in some of these democratic countries, the politicians of these countries are made to believe that if they defer to these people or pander to these people, these people have some ability to get a community to support them. So, they have tried to create space for themselves in the politics of these countries. I mean, at this time, it's not so much a problem in the US.
"Our biggest problem right now is in Canada. Because in Canada, actually, today the party in power in Canada, and other parties in Canada have given these kinds of extremism, separatism, and advocates of violence a certain legitimacy in the name of free speech. See, when you tell them something, their answer is no, no we are a democratic country, but it is free speech. The point that they need to understand, it is no longer a world that runs as a one-way street. If there are that which happen out there, there will be pushback. Newton's law of politics will apply there also. There will be a reaction. Others will take steps or counter it," he added.
He said he saw reports that three people have been arrested, and, the Canadian police have conducted 'some investigation'. Jaishankar said Canada has been welcoming people from India with links to organised crime, ignoring warnings by New Delhi. "Often, when I see for example these kinds of attacks, threats to our embassies, because they concern me very deeply, and I tell the foreign minister, suppose if (they) happened to you, if it was your embassy, your diplomat, your flag, how would you react. We have to keep our position strong on this particular report which has come. I also saw it last night, I was coming to Odisha in the morning, somebody may have been arrested, their police may have done some investigation," Jaishankar said at the event.
"But, the fact is that a number of gangland people, a number of people with organised crime links from Punjab have been made welcome in Canada. We have been telling Canada, 'look these are wanted criminals from India, you have given them visas. Many of them have come in false documentation, and yet you allow them to live there. If you decide to import for political purposes people with very dubious, actually, very negative backgrounds, there will be issues, they have in some cases created problems in their own country as a result of their own policies'. No, why would we fear, if something happens there, it is for them to worry about," he added.
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