India denies Canada’s allegations against Amit Shah, warns of consequences – Firstpost

India on Saturday denied Home Affairs Minister Amit Shah’s allegation of a plot against Sikh activists on Canadian soil and said it had formally condemned Ottawa’s “absurd and baseless” allegations.

The comments by a spokesperson for the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) came after Canada’s Deputy Foreign Minister David Morrison said on Tuesday that Shah had ordered a campaign of violence, intimidation and intelligence gathering against Sikh separatists in Canada.

Earlier, Ottawa accused India of masterminding the 2023 assassination in Vancouver of 45-year-old naturalized Canadian citizen Hardeep Singh Nijar, a prominent Khalistan activist.

But Canadian officials this week said Ottawa had tracked a broader campaign targeting Canadian Sikh activists at the highest levels of the Indian government, pointing to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s influential right-hand man.

MEA spokesman Randhir Jaiswal said the revelation that senior Canadian government officials deliberately leaked unsubstantiated insinuations to the international media as part of a deliberate strategy to discredit India and influence other countries only reaffirms the view the Indian government has long held about the current political agenda. Government of Canada. and behavior pattern.

Answering questions during the weekly press briefing, Jaiswal said such irresponsible actions would have serious consequences for bilateral relations.

He said India had summoned a representative of the Canadian High Commission on Friday and the official had been handed a diplomatic note to lodge a strong protest against the “absurd and baseless” remarks made by the Canadian deputy minister against India’s home minister.

Speaking to members of parliament, Morrison did not say how Canada knew about Shah’s alleged involvement.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said a year ago that Canada had credible evidence that Indian government agents were involved in the June 2023 murder of Canadian Sikh activist Hardeep Singh Nijar in British Columbia.

Dismissing the allegations as absurd, Indian government officials have consistently denied that Canada has provided evidence.

With the help of agencies.