India called Canadian media reports that the Indian prime minister was aware of the alleged plot to kill Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar a ‘smear campaign’. The Ministry of External Affairs that the ludicrous statements made by Canada should be dismissed with contempt.
“We do not normally comment on media reports. However, such ludicrous statements made to a newspaper purportedly by a Canadian government source should be dismissed with the contempt they deserve. Smear campaigns like this only further damage our already strained ties,” said External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal about media reports in Canadian newspaper The Globe and Mail.
India and Canada’s ties nosedived after Nijjar was gunned down on Canadian soil last year, after which Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said to their parliament that Indian agents were involved in the killing. India, meanwhile, rejected all the allegations made by Ottawa, finally recalling the high commissioner, who was also named as involved in the killing along with other diplomats.
The Canadian newspaper said that their agencies believe that Prime Minister Narendra Modi knew about the killing of Nijjar and other violent plots. It cited a senior national-security official who tied the killing of Nijjar to Home Minister Amit Shah. External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and national-security adviser Ajit Doval were also in the loop, the source said, as reported by the newspaper.
However, the newspaper acknowledged that there was no evidence that PM Modi was aware of the situation but added that it was “unthinkable” for three high-ranking political figures to discuss the killing and for PM Modi to not know about it.