Speculative and inaccurate: Canada denies media report that claimed PM Modi knew of Nijjar’s killing

The Canadian government on Friday rejected a media report that linked Indian PM Narendra Modi and his top officials to criminal activities in the country.

PM Justin Trudeau-led government described the report as ‘both speculative and inaccurate’.

The Canadian government issued the statement after Globe and Mail claimed in its report that the country’s security agencies believe Modi knew about the killing of a Sikh separatist leader (Hardeep Singh Nijjar) in British Columbia and other violent plots.

In a statement issued on Friday, national security and intelligence advisor to the Canadian prime minister Nathalie G Drouin said, “On October 14th, because of a significant and ongoing threat to public safety, the RCMP and officials took the extraordinary step of making public accusations of serious criminal activity in Canada perpetrated by agents of the Government of India.”

“The Government of Canada has not stated, nor is it aware of evidence, linking Prime Minister Modi, Minister Jaishankar, or NSA Doval to the serious criminal activity within Canada,” the statement said.

Quoting a senior national-security official, Globe and Mail reported that Canadian and American intelligence tied the assassination operations to Home Affairs Minister Amit Shah.

Also in the loop, the official told the newspaper, was Modi’s trusted national-security adviser Ajit Doval and External Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar.

While Canada does not have direct evidence that Modi knew, the official told the newspaper that the assessment is that it would be unthinkable that three senior political figures in India would not have discussed the targeted killings with Modi before proceeding.

India responds sharply

Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal on Wednesday called the newspaper report a ‘smear campaign’.

“Such ludicrous statements made to a newspaper purportedly by a Canadian government source should be dismissed with the contempt they deserve,” Jaiswal said in a statement.

“Smear campaigns like this only further damage our already strained ties,” he said.

India-Canada standoff over Khalistani row

A recent standoff between New Delhi and Ottawa was triggered after Canada Prime Minister Justin Trudeau accused Indian officials of being involved in the killing of Nijjar.

India had expelled six Canadian diplomats and asked them to leave the country last month after Ottawa said it was investigating the Indian ambassador and other diplomats as “persons of interest” in connection with the killing of a Sikh separatist leader last year.

Canada too asked six Indian diplomats to leave the country alleging that its police reportedly got hold of evidence that they claimed to be a part of an Indian government “campaign of violence”.

The Indian government had also decided to withdraw its High Commissioner in Canada after Ottawa’s accusations which the Modi government called an act of “vote bank politics”.

However later in a statement which leaves India vindicated, Trudeau had said he had no “hard evidentiary proof” to back his claims that India government officials were involved in Nijjar’s killing.