NEW DELHI: Days after a Canadian minister alleged that Home Minister Amit Shah was behind the attacks on Sikh separatists in Canada, India on Saturday termed the allegations “absurd” and “baseless”, and warned that such “irresponsible actions” could have serious repercussions on bilateral ties.
India on Friday summoned a representative of the Canadian High Commission and lodged a strong protest over the reference made against Shah by Canada’s Deputy Foreign Affairs Minister David Morrison.
The reference was made at a hearing of the Canadian Parliament’s standing committee on public safety and national security in Ottawa on October 29. Morrison had alleged that Shah was directing attacks on Canadian Sikhs.
Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal today said the Canadian High Commission official was served a diplomatic note mentioning “India protests in the strongest terms the absurd and baseless references made to the Home Minister before the committee by Deputy Minister Morrison”.
Morrison had also told the committee members that he had confirmed Shah’s name to a US daily, which first reported the allegations. Jaiswal said the revelation that top Canadian government officials deliberately leaked unfounded insinuations to international media as part of a conscious strategy to discredit India and influence other nations only confirmed the view that India had long held about the current Canadian regime’s political agenda and behavioural pattern.
Answering queries on another set of allegations about “India being a threat to Canadian cyber security”, Jaiswal said, “This appears to be another example of a Canadian strategy to attack India. As mentioned earlier by us, their senior officials have openly confessed to seeking to manipulate global opinion against India. As on other occasions, imputations have been made without any evidence.”
On reports of Indian officials being put on surveillance by Canada, Jaiswal said, “Some of our consular officials were recently informed by the Canadian government that they have been, and continued to be, under audio and video surveillance. Their communications have also been intercepted…. We have formally protested with the Canadian government as we deem these actions to be a flagrant violation of relevant diplomatic and consular conventions.”
Jaiswal said the Canadian government could not justify the fact that it was indulging in harassment and intimidation. “Our diplomatic and consular personnel are already functioning in an environment of extremism and violence. This action aggravates the situation and is incompatible with the established diplomatic norms and practices,” he said.
Responding to the reported cancellation of Diwali celebrations in Canada, Jaiswal said, “We have seen some reports in this regard. It is unfortunate that the prevailing atmosphere in Canada has reached such high levels of intolerance and extremism.”
On Canada’s statement that it would reduce visas, Jaiswal said the MEA was monitoring the well-being of Indian students and temporary workers who were currently in Canada.
Meanwhile, India also slammed Canada for naming it in a list of cyberthreat adversaries and suggesting that state-sponsored actors could be spying against it. New Delhi called the allegation as another example of Ottawa’s strategy to “attack India”.