Former Punjab chief minister and prominent BJP leader Amarinder Singh criticised Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Friday, accusing him of sacrificing India-Canada relations in pursuit of Sikh votes.
Singh’s remarks come as relations between the two nations hit new lows, with both countries recalling diplomats amid ongoing tension.
“Trudeau has ruined the relationship (between India and Canada),” said Singh while speaking to reporters in Khanna, Punjab.
“He is interested in only one thing, and that is getting Sikh votes for his election. He does not care what happens,” Singh stated, adding that Trudeau’s stance is “promoting Khalistanis. This is something that is not acceptable.”
The diplomatic tension escalated after New Delhi recalled its high commissioner and five other diplomats following a Canadian investigation identifying them as “persons of interest” in the murder case of Hardeep Singh Nijjar, a pro-Khalistan activist and Canadian citizen, in British Columbia in 2023.
Recalling his tenure as chief minister, Singh shared that he had refused to meet then Canadian Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan during Sajjan’s official India visit, citing the minister’s alleged ties with the Khalistan movement.
“When I was in the government, the Canadian defence minister was on a visit to India. I had refused to meet him,” Singh noted, labelling Sajjan a “Khalistani sympathiser.”
Singh also recounted Trudeau’s controversial visit to India in 2018. “When Trudeau came here, he wanted to meet me. I said I did not want to meet him,” he said, adding that India’s central government insisted on the meeting as a precondition for Trudeau’s visit to Punjab, including a family trip to the Golden Temple in Amritsar.
India-Canada relations have further frayed over Ottawa’s perceived leniency towards pro-Khalistan extremists among Canada’s Sikh community of around 800,000.
New Delhi has repeatedly urged Ottawa to curb the activities of Khalistani supporters, accusing them of “seeking to undermine the sovereignty and territorial integrity of India.”
Singh emphasised that friendly ties once characterised India-Canada relations, but Trudeau’s policies and actions have significantly damaged diplomatic bonds.
“Canada and India had very friendly relations. It is Trudeau who ruined it,” Singh said.
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