Pro-Khalistan elements have infiltrated Canada’s defence forces and parliament, says recalled envoy

India’s High Commissioner to Canada, who is now back in his home country after being recalled last week, has accused Ottawa of providing refuge to Khalistani terrorists. Sanjay Verma, the diplomat, also termed Canada’s move to declare him ‘person of interest’ in Hardeep Singh Nijjar murder case as a "kind of back-stabbing". 

The envoy further flagged the presence of pro-Khalistan elements in various arms of Canada's administration and governance.

"Today, almost every Canadian law and order vertical has got in it, pro-Khalistan elements, and the infiltration includes their defence forces and even the parliament," Sanjay Verma said in an interview with news agency PTI.

"Declaring me a 'person of interest' by Canada came as a shock, a kind of back-stabbing," Verma said.

He also said Canada’s approach to the bilateral ties with India was “not professional.” "This is the pits," he added.

The move triggered a massive diplomatic row between the two nations, resulting in New Delhi expelling six Canadian diplomats and withdrawing the same number of envoys from Ottawa.

"Khalistani terrorists, extremists found refuge in Canada due to the lenient Canadian legal system," he said.

The Indian envoy alleged that Khalistanis in Canada are involved in heinous crimes such as human trafficking, gunrunning, and extortion.

"Just a handful, about 10,000 people, of Sikhs in Canada are hardline Khalistanis, making Khalistan a business," he said.

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Verma also explained in detail how officials from Canada’s foreign ministry approached him and said that he and his colleagues had been declared persons of interest.

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“After a bit of conversation, they told me that I, along with five other diplomats and officials, are 'persons of interest' in the inquiry of the killing of (Hardeep Singh) Nijjar. And, therefore, there was a request to waive my diplomatic immunity as well as the diplomatic immunity of my colleagues, so that we could be interrogated by RCMP, which is the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, the investigating agency there. So, I took that as a message. We, diplomats, are messengers in any case, so we sent that message back home to advise us what to do," he was quoted as saying.

India strongly reacted to the move, blasting Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau for pandering to the Khalistani vote bank and sacrificing Indo-Canadian ties for petty political gains. Later, the Canadian PM himself admitted during a public enquiry that his government didn’t have any ‘hard evidence’ linking Nijjar’s death to the agents of the Indian government.

(With inputs from agencies)