Freedom of speech doesn’t mean freedom to support separatism: Jaishankar on Canada

PTI

New Delhi, May 10

By allowing political space to Khalistani separatist elements, the Canadian government is sending a message that its vote bank is "more powerful" than its rule of law, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said.

In an exclusive interview to PTI late on Thursday, Jaishankar said India respects and practises freedom of speech, but that does not equate with freedom to threaten foreign diplomats, extend support to separatism or allow political space to elements advocating violence.

The external affairs minister also wondered how people with dubious backgrounds are being allowed to enter and live in Canada, referring to Khalistani supporters among the Sikh migrants from Punjab.

"In any rule-based society, you would imagine that you would check people's background, how they came, what passports they carried, etc," he said.

"If you have people whose presence there was itself on very dubious documents, what does it say about you? It actually says that your vote-bank actually is more powerful than your rule of law," he said.

The Indian diaspora in Canada is about 1.8 million strong and there are another one million Non-Resident Indians residing in the country. The Indian diaspora, mostly of Sikh ethnicity, is considered an influential bloc in Canada's politics.

Ties between India and Canada came under severe strain following Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's allegations in September last year of the "potential" involvement of Indian agents in the killing of Nijjar. 

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