Charges absurd, no Nijjar killing link: Indian envoy to Canada

India had “no involvement whatsoever” in the killing of Hardeep Singh Nijjar, Indian High Commissioner to Canada Dinesh Patnaik has asserted, calling the allegations levelled by the previous Canadian administration “preposterous and absurd”.

“We were never involved in these things. India doesn’t do such things… This is preposterous and absurd,” Patnaik said in an interview with a Canadian news channel.

The envoy’s sharp remarks came after Prime Minister Narendra Modi met his Canadian counterpart Mark Carney on the sidelines of the G20 Summit in Johannesburg — the second meeting between the two leaders after their interaction at the G7 Summit in Kananaskis in June. The back-to-back engagements underline a thaw after a year of turbulence in bilateral ties.

Patnaik welcomed Canada’s decision to designate the Lawrence Bishnoi gang as a terrorist entity, noting that India had been taking its own actions against the network. “We have Bishnoi’s brother in jail, and his other brother was in the US. He was extradited last week by the Americans to India to face charges. We are taking action on our front,” he said.

Warning that transnational criminal syndicates now operated with the same global reach as terror groups, Patnaik stressed the need for deeper security cooperation between New Delhi and Ottawa. “Whatever intelligence we have

about these gangs — both the Bishnoi gang and Sikh gangs operating with links to global cartels — we are sharing. Today, just like the G20 meetings, terrorists across the world have their own organisations and their own ways of connecting with each other. This is the kind of collaboration we require… to work together to keep people on the streets safe,” he said.

He pointed out that India had been flagging extremist activity in Canada “for 40 years” — dating back to the 1985 Air India Kanishka bombing. “We have been raising this issue and providing evidence. Both countries are mature enough, and we need a relationship where we can discuss how people can be kept safe — Canadians safe on Canadian streets, and Indians safe on Indian streets,” he said.

The revival of NSA-level dialogue, he said, was aimed precisely at improving intelligence sharing on “operational hubs and financial flows”.

The diplomat highlighted that political and official engagement had visibly increased in recent months. Canadian Foreign Minister Anita Anand visited New Delhi last month, followed by External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar’s trip to Canada earlier this month. Modi and Carney have also met twice in five months.

On the issue of so-called “Khalistan referendums” being organised by separatist groups in Canada, Patnaik was blunt. “See, it’s a farcical referendum. For us, having a peaceful protest or asking for something is part of a political process… But you people know what referendums are. You’ve done referendums in the past. You know how farcical this is,” he said.