'They're worried': Liberal MP plans to raise concerns about Modi visit to Carney
OTTAWA — A Liberal MP says he intends to raise concerns to Prime Minister Mark Carney about the decision to invite India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Canada as part of a meeting of G7 leaders later this month.
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Sukh Dhaliwal represents the Surrey, B.C., riding that was home to Sikh activist and Canadian citizen Hardeep Singh Nijjar, whom Canada said in 2023 was killed by agents acting on behalf of the Indian government. Nijjar was gunned down outside a temple in June 2023.
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India has denied the accusation but had considered Nijjar to be a terrorist. Nijjar was a prominent activist in the Khalistan movement, which has pushed to establish a separate Sikh state in India's Punjab province.
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The accusation from former prime minister Justin Trudeau in September 2023 sparked a wave of tension in the Canada-India relationship, including last fall when the RCMP said it believed Modi's government was linked to violence unfolding in Canada, including organized crime and murders.
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'They're worried. They're worried about their safety, they're concerned about the justice in Mr. Nijjar's case, as well,' he told National Post in an interview late Friday.
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Dhaliwal said he has heard from other Liberal MPs also expressing concern, but said he would not divulge details to protect their privacy.
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He said he intends to raise the concerns he has been hearing from constituents with Carney or members of his team, and will be in Ottawa next week for the ongoing sitting of Parliament.
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'He's willing to talk,' Dhaliwal said of the prime minister.
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'He's willing to listen to his MPs, that's what he has promised because he has always said that he's interested in the voice from the grassroots, not the message coming from the top to the grassroots.'
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