Hopeful that relations between India and Canada will improve: Delhi Minister Manjinder Sirsa
New Delhi [India], June 19 (ANI): Following Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Canada for the G7 Summit, Delhi Minister Manjinder Singh Sirsa expressed confidence that ties between India and Canada will improve in the coming days.
'We have been saying for a long time that anti-India and extremist activities are going on in Canada... Canada's new Prime Minister, Mark Carney, has also accepted it... I hope that the way he has accepted it, he will work on it...Prime Minister Modi also provided information about their activities in Canada. Goldy Brar has also admitted that he was involved in the murder of Sidhu Moose Wala...Despite this, he was given protection and no action was taken...I am hopeful that the situation will change and that relations between India and Canada will improve,' Sirsa told ANI.
For the first time ever, Canada's premier intelligence agency, Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) officially acknowledged that Khalistani extremists are using Canadian soil to promote, fundraise, and plan violence in India.CSIS released its annual report on Wednesday, outlining some key concerns and threats to Canada's national security.
Canada intelligence agency CSIS report categorically states, 'Khalistani extremists continue to use Canada as a base for the promotion, fundraising or planning of violence primarily in India.'
India has been raising concerns about Khalistani extremists operating from Canadian soil for years, but Canada had largely turned a blind eye to the issue.
The CSIS report confirmed that Canada has become a safe haven for anti-India elements, validating India's concerns that have been raised for years.
This comes a day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Canadian counterpart Mark Carney 'agreed to take calibrated steps to restore stability to the relationship' and decided to restore High Commissioners to each other's capitals.
At the G7 Leaders' Summit in Kananaskis, Alberta, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney held talks with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and both leaders agreed to designate new high commissioners, with a view to returning to regular services to citizens and businesses in both countries, according to a press release from the Prime Minister of Canada.The Politically Motivated Violent Extremism (PMVE) threat in Canada has manifested primarily through Canada-based Khalistani extremists (CBKEs) seeking to create an independent nation state called Khalistan, largely within Punjab in India.
The report noted that since the mid-1980s, the PMVE threat in Canada has manifested primarily through CBKEs.'A small group of individuals are considered Khalistani extremists because they continue to use Canada as a base for the promotion, fundraising or planning of violence primarily in India. In particular, real and perceived Khalistani extremism emerging from Canada continues to drive Indian foreign interference activities in Canada,' the report reads.
This revelation, part of CSIS's latest annual report, has reignited concerns about foreign interference and extremist activity within Canada, particularly in the context of its sensitive diplomatic relationship with India.
Canada's own intelligence security has confirmed what New Delhi has long maintained -- Canada has become a safe haven for anti-India elements. The report called for sustained vigilance against both external influence campaigns and domestic extremist financing networks'These activities attempt to steer Canada's positions into alignment with India's interests on key issues, particularly with respect to how the Indian government perceives Canada-based supporters of an independent homeland that they call Khalistan,' added the report.
Tensions escalated further when former Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau claimed that his government had 'credible allegations' of India's involvement in the killing of Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar in Canada in 2023.
India has strongly denied the allegations, terming them 'absurd' and 'motivated' and has accused Canada of giving space to extremist and anti-India elements. (ANI)
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