Trudeau Walked Into Trap Due To Vote Bank Politics: Amarinder Singh Amid Row

Senior BJP leader and former Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh on Tuesday dismissed Canada Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's claim of a "potential link" between Indian government agents and the killing of a Khalistani terrorist in Surrey in June.

Mr Singh said the murder of Hardeep Singh Nijjar was the result of a factional feud within the management of the Guru Nanak Sikh Gurdwara in Canada's Surrey.

Nijjar, 45, the chief of the banned Khalistan Tiger Force and one of India's most-wanted terrorists with a cash reward of Rs 10 lakh on his head, was shot dead by two unidentified gunmen outside a gurdwara in Surrey in the western Canadian province of British Columbia on June 18.

The former Punjab Chief Minister said Justin Trudeau has unfortunately walked into a trap owing to vote bank politics and put at stake the diplomatic relationship between the two countries.

"It was highly irresponsible for the Prime Minister of a country to make a statement without any evidence only because he was playing to the vote bank gallery," Mr Singh said in a statement.

He pointed out that it was an irrefutable fact that the Trudeau administration had given a free hand to anti-India forces in Canada.

Indian missions in Canada were attacked and diplomats intimidated but there was no corrective action by the Canadian government, he said.

"Has the Canada government taken any action against the culprits who attacked Indian missions there?" he asked, adding that Trudeau, by levelling such allegations, is only trying to deflect the attention from his own failures to curb anti-India activities in his country.

Amarinder Singh said he had brought it to Justin Trudeau's notice how Canada was being used against India.

He said when he met Trudeau during his India visit in 2018 at a hotel in Amritsar, he shared all this information with him.

Instead of the Canadian government taking any remedial measures, there was an increase in anti-India activities in that country, he said.

The reason he refused to meet the then Canadian Defence Minister Harjit Singh Sajjan during his India visit since he was associated with the World Sikh Organisation which had a record of working against India.

The former Chief Minister appreciated the Centre's decision to expel a Canadian diplomat for his involvement in encouraging anti-India activities.

Canada and India have both expelled a senior diplomat each after a row erupted over the killing of the Khalistani terrorist, with Justin Trudeau alleging the involvement of "agents of the Indian government" and Delhi outrightly rejecting the charge as "absurd" and "motivated".