Canada Acknowledged Pakistan’s Support for Khalistanis Weeks Before Diplomatic Fallout with India

Canada India diplomatic fallout: As the relation between India and Canada got worse, a few weeks before the head of the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS), Vanessa Lloyd said Pakistan has influenced the country’s politics and that Islamabad's actions were connected to their support of Khalistanis.

A video of Lloyd's speech last month before the country’s Foreign Interference Commission went viral on social media as the diplomatic row over the death of Sikh separatist Hardeep Singh Nijjar got worse on Tuesday.

During a meeting of the foreign interference panel on September 27, Lloyd said, “Engagement of Pakistan is consistently in balance with trying to reduce the influence of India.”

She also added during the testimony, “The influence of Pakistan is directly related to the support of Khalistani extremism.” The testimony was part of a broader investigation into foreign interference in Canada’s election process.

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In the viral video, Ottawa indicated possible sanctions against India based on certain findings in the case and Delhi strongly denied the allegations including those made by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

The Canadian government also accused Indian agents of involvement in “homicides, extortion and violent acts” against pro-Khalistan supporters and even tried to link the Bishnoi gang to many unspecified illegal activities in Canada.

Canada's foreign minister, Melanie Joly does not dismiss imposing sanctions against India should be put in place saying “Everything is on the table”.

India strongly denied the allegations by Canadian authorities to link Indian agents with criminal gangs in Canada. Indian officials even said that Ottawa's claim that it shared proof with New Delhi in the Nijjar case was simply not true.

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New Delhi also denied Trudeau’s allegation that India was linked to illegal activities such as carrying out secret operations against Canadian citizens. When asked about the Nijjar case, Trudeau pointed fingers at India during a press conference and said that Canada would never tolerate a foreign government threatening and killing Canadian citizens on Canadian land.

On Monday, India expelled six Canadian officials and declared that it would be withdrawing its high commissioner out of Canada. This comes after denying Ottawa’s allegations which involved the envoy in an investigation into the death of Nijjar.

In reply, to a question at Trudeau's press conference, Joly did not rule out further action against India. She said, “So today was a really important step. When you look at what is available in our toolbox, expelling diplomats is one of the highest and toughest measures a country can take under the Vienna convention…Everything is on the table.”

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