New Delhi: In a direct attack on Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's support to Khalistani elements, India's recalled envoy Sanjay Verma said not acting against the separatist criminals is akin to encouraging them.
Days after returning to New Delhi after an acrimonious blow-up in relations between the two countries, Verma told PTI Videos that Trudeau has been emboldening Khalistanis for political gains.
Verma was asked if India has shared evidence with Canada that Trudeau and his government have been promoting Khalistani terrorism.
"Encouragement could be both ways, one is actively telling them to do something, and the second is you will keep mum. So, the criminals, terrorists, extremists, if one takes no action against them, that is akin to encouragement," he said.
"So, that encouragement is seen a lot there, either it is for domestic vote-bank or any other political reason. Because of this encouragement, they (Khalistanis) have gotten emboldened and they continuously attack the interests of India, and try to harm us," the diplomat added.
On whether Trudeau's actions against India were driven by his intention to divert attention in the face of his falling popularity ahead of elections in Canada next year, Verma said, "I will not get into the domestic policy of Canada. That's not my job. I shouldn't be doing that. The surveys that I have seen, published in the (Canadian) media, say that the popularity rating of Mr Trudeau is going down."
"It (Trudeau's rating) is much below the main opposition party at the moment and its leader. So, many of the media reports say and it's not my opinion, that if elections are held today, he may find it very difficult to come back to power," Verma said.
"But these are just surveys, and we know opinion polls hold good at times, while not so good at other times. So, what happens to Canada will be decided by Canadians during the elections, I will not like to go there, not like to comment," he added.
Verma said his analysis is that most of the anti-India activities out of Canada are only for domestic political gains.
He said there is a specific campaign by Khalistanis to defame India.
"But, I won't blame entire Canada for that. Canadians are good friends, they are objective people, very polite, and very welcoming. So, Canada as a country is a beautiful place to be, but I will not be able to say the same for the Khalistani terrorists and extremists in Canada and their political backers," Verma said.
In an unexpected downturn of relations, Verma was declared a "person of interest" by Canada on October 13 in its investigation into the June 2023 killing of Hardeep Singh Nijjar, a Canadian citizen who has been declared a Khalistani terrorist by India. Before Canada could take further action, New Delhi recalled Verma and five other diplomats, who were also similarly named.
Verma, an Indian Institute of Technology graduate and a nuclear scientist has previously served as India's ambassador to Japan and Sudan.
