Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Wednesday claimed he only went public with the Hardeep Singh Nijjar's murder allegation involving India’s government after a lengthy behind-the-scenes effort to address the matter diplomatically was rejected by Indian officials.
Testifying before the public inquiry into foreign interference in federal electoral processes and democratic institutions, Justin Trudeau said Canadian officials had first sought cooperation with the Indian government “in a responsible way” that doesn’t “blow up the relationship between Canada and India", especially given India was about to host a Group of 20 leaders summit at the time.
“We had the opportunity of making it a very uncomfortable summit for India if we went public with these allegations ahead of time,” Justin Trudeau said, recalling the discussions in August 2023.
“We chose not to. We chose to continue to work behind the scenes to try to get India to cooperate with us,” the Canadian Prime Minister said.
On Camera: Trudeau admits 'no hard proof' against India in Nijjar case.
Justin Trudeau said the Canadian government was seeking India’s help to find out if the alleged interference and violence was done either by a rogue element or directed by someone higher up in the government.
Trudeau had no definite answer when asked if the alleged interference was a rogue element or authorized by the responsible members of the Government of India.
Justin Trudeau's fresh statements on Hardeep Nijjar killing
Justin Trudeau alleged that India believed that Canada doesn’t take seriously violence or terrorism or incitement to hatred seriously, as he cited foundational responsibility for the Canadian government for not taking actions against those espousing violence and terrorism against a third country.
Responding to a question, Trudeau said Canada is not looking to provoke or create a fight with India. “The Indian government made a horrific mistake in thinking that they could interfere as aggressively as they did in the safety and sovereignty of Canada, and we need to respond in order to ensure Canadian's safety. What other steps we will take will be determined in due course, but every step of the way our single overarching priority is ensuring that we are keeping all Canadians safe,” he said.
When asked if Canada will suspend its 2018 intelligence sharing agreement with India, Trudeau said Canada's policy is around one India. “We believe in the territorial integrity and the sovereignty of India. We respect that. We certainly expect India to respect the sovereignty of Canada, which in this case they have not,” he said.
The Canadian prime minister said the issue of the Indian government as possible source of foreign interference is not something that only appeared over the past weeks or even over the past year. “Canadian intelligence agencies have been collecting that information for a number of years now. We are constantly adapting and adjusting to shifting approaches by other states as they engage through different technologies, through different means, through different vectors into advancing their aims in Canada and we will continue to learn and adjust as necessary to do what we must do to keep Canadians safe, to protect our institutions and our democracy,” he said.
Trudeau claimed the Indian diplomats were collecting information on Canadians who are in disagreement with the Narendra Modi government and passing it to the highest levels within the Indian government and criminal organisations like the Lawrence Bishnoi gang. "I was briefed on the fact that there was intelligence from Canada, and possibly from Five Eyes allies that made it fairly clear, incredibly clear, that India was involved in this... Agents of the government of India were involved in the killing of a Canadian on Canadian soil," he alleged. He added that it was something that his government had to take extremely seriously.
Nijjar killing: MEA says Canada has ‘presented us no evidence’
Justin Trudeau acknowledged that he had only intelligence and no “hard evidentiary proof” when he alleged the involvement of Indian government agents in the killing of Hardeep Singh Nijjar last year.
"India had indeed done it, and we had reasons to believe that they had," Trudeau said, adding that his government's immediate approach was to engage with the government of India to work on this together to make sure that there was accountability."