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BIG STORY OCTOBER 25, 2024 | The Indian Eye 5

Hardeep Singh Nijjar, the Ministry of to deflect from his own problems and
External Affairs said Justin Trudeau troubles regarding Chinagate,” he
“only confirms” what India has been said.
saying “consistently all along.” Reacting to the diplomatic row
The MEA also held Trudeau’s between Canada and India, Canadi-
“cavalier behavior” responsible for an security expert, Joe Adam George,
damaging India-Canada relations. has said that the problem lies with
“What we have heard today only con- Canadian Prime Minister Justin
firms what we have been saying con- Trudeau’s conduct of foreign poli-
sistently all along - Canada has pre- cy affairs, stressing that both he and
sented us no evidence whatsoever in Canada’s Foreign Affairs Minister
support of the serious allegations that Melanie Joly are terribly out of their
it has chosen to level against India and depth when it comes to issues related
Indian diplomats,” said MEA spokes- to foreign affairs.
person Randhir Jaiswal in an official In an interview, he also spoke
statement last night in response to about Canada’s stance on the ongo-
Trudeau’s comment on Wednesday. ing war between Israel and Hamas.
The leader of the People’s Par- He stressed that the Canadian gov-
ty of Canada, Maxime Bernier, has ernment, instead of supporting their
said that Hardeep Singh Nijjar, who long-time ally, Israel, often throws it
was shot dead outside the gurdwara out of the bus.
in Surrey in 2023, was not Canadi- When asked whether there will
an but a “foreign terrorist who used be a reset in India- Canada rela-
fraudulent documents to claim asy- tionship if Trudeau is voted out, Joe
lum in Canada several times starting Adam George said, “The problem
in 1997.” fundamentally lies with Prime Min-
In a post on X, Bernier said that ister Trudeau’s conduct of foreign
authorities should have deported policy matters. Both him and For-
Nijjar after his fake asylum claim, like Prime Minister Narendra Modi meets Canadian PM Justin Trudeau on the sidelines of the G20 eign Affairs Minister Melanie Joly
the hundreds of thousands of fake Summit, in New Delhi in 2023 (ANI) are terribly out of their depth when it
asylum claimants who are in Canada comes to foreign affairs matters. We
right now. He called for taking away ing Canadian premier and the Water- “China has been interfering in saw it play out in the Middle East, in
Nijjar’s citizenship posthumously to gate scandal against former US Pres- Canadian elections since 2019 and the way they’ve treated Israel, which
rectify the administrative error. ident Richard Nixon. Sachdev said, 2021. There are huge controversies is, again, like India, a long-time ally of
He said that allegations made by “Canada is not taking any actions, on that. In order to divert and distract Canada.”
the Royal Canadian Mounted Police Canada doesn’t have any empathy, attention from Chinagate, in which “But, in fact, just last week it was
(RCMP) and the Liberal government Canada is displaying no empathy with Trudeau is being labelled as a weak reported that Foreign Affairs Minis-
regarding Indian diplomats engaging regards to India. The reason being leader, Trudeau very wisely thought ter Joly said that she on writing got a
in criminal activities in Canada are Trudeau has fallen trap to a China- to amplify, to play up India to distract significant number of Arab Muslims
“highly serious” and stressed that gate. Just like Watergate, which was attention within his own country on who she needs to appease, because
they need to be addressed decisively a scandal of American democracy his leadership failures. So, we can ex- their support for Palestine and hence
if proven true. brought by Nixon, similarly, China pect more of this as Trudeau took a they would often throw Israel on the
“He was actually a foreign terror- gate is a scandal brought by Trudeau.” conscious decision of targeting India bus instead of supporting them in the
ist who used fraudulent documents fight against Hamas, Hezbollah and
to claim asylum in Canada several the Iranian regime. This is exactly the
times starting in 1997. His claims were same, and now we see the same case
rejected but he was nevertheless al- with India,” he further said.
lowed to stay in this country and was Amid the escalating diplomatic
somehow granted citizenship in 2007. row between India and Canada, Con-
Nijjar wasn’t a Canadian. We should gress leader Pawan Khera on Thurs-
perhaps posthumously take away his day said that the opposition will stand
citizenship to right this administrative with the government and speak in one
error. He should have been deported voice, adding that no country had ever
after his first fake asylum claim, like dared to put such grave accusations
the hundreds of thousands of fake on India.
asylum claimants who are in Canada “No country had ever dared to
right now,” he added. put such grave accusations on India.
The allegations of Chinese inter- This is unprecedented and we will not
ference in Canada’s elections have la- tolerate it. When it comes to matters
belled Prime Minister Justin Trudeau of foreign policy and national securi-
as a “weak leader” because of which ty, the opposition will stand with the
he took a “conscious decision” of tar- government and speak in one voice.
geting India to distract public’s atten- The government needs to ensure this
tion from the controversy as well as by taking the opposition and the LoP
other domestic issues, foreign affairs into confidence by briefing about the
expert, Robinder Sachdev said. Shiv Sena Dogra Front supporters protest against Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau happenings,” Khera said.
He also drew a parallel between over his alleged comment in Jammu on Tuesday (ANI) At least on this issue, all Indian
the ‘Chinagate controversy’ surround- parties seem to talking in one voice.

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