Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. Reuters File Photo
India's envoy to Canada, who is being expelled over what Ottawa claims are connections to the murder of a Sikh leader, maintained in an interview that he is innocent and accused Prime Minister Justin Trudeau of damaging bilateral political relations, though trade ties might remain unaffected. Both nations on Monday expelled six diplomats each in a reciprocal move, prompted by Ottawa's allegations that New Delhi was targeting Indian dissidents on Canadian soil. Trudeau specifically linked the six diplomats to the murder of Sikh separatist Hardeep Singh Nijjar last year in British Columbia. Sanjay Kumar Verma, India's envoy to Canada, told CTV that Trudeau had been relying on intelligence rather than concrete evidence.
Sanjay Kumar Verma, India's envoy to Canada. Reuters File Photo
"On the basis of intelligence, if you wish to ruin a relationship, feel free. That's exactly what he did," Verma said in an interview aired on Sunday. When asked if he had any involvement in Nijjar's murder, Verma replied: "Absolutely not. No evidence was provided. This is politically driven." Canada hosts the largest Sikh population outside of Punjab, and demonstrations advocating for a separate Sikh homeland have irritated New Delhi. However, Verma stated that this incident has no bearing on trade and cultural ties with Canada, which had a two-way trade of $8.4 billion with India at the end of the last fiscal year. Indians have also been the largest group of international students in Canada in recent years.
"There will be emotions on both sides... which might affect some of those agreements, but the broader perspective is that I don't foresee much impact on non-political bilateral relations," Verma said.
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