Indian diplomats 'threatened and intimidated in many ways' in Canada, says S Jaishankar

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Monday said that Indian diplomats were harassed in ways more than one in Canada and got very little help from the Justin Trudeau government at the time, prompting India to suspend issuance of visas in Canada. 

In September 2023, India temporarily suspended the issuance of visas to Canadian citizens days after Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau levelled allegations of a ‘potential’  involvement of Indian agents in the killing of Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar. 

India categorically rejected these allegations as being “absurd” and “motivated”.  Due to the tensions between India and Canada, Indian diplomats faced threats in Canada at the time. Visa services to Canada were resumed several weeks later. 

“We had to suspend issuance of visas in Canada because our diplomats were not safe going to work. Our diplomats were repeatedly threatened. They were intimidated in many ways and we got very little comfort from the Canadian system,”  Jaishankar said at an event organised by the TV9 Network. 

The External Affairs Minister said it reached a stage where he as a minister couldn’t expose the diplomats to the violence prevalent in Canada at the time. He also noted that the situation has improved since then. 

“We reached a stage when as a minister, I could not risk exposing the diplomats to the kind of violence which was very clearly prevalent in Canada at that time. That part of it has been rectified. Today, our visa operations are pretty much normal,”  he noted. 

When asked about the space given to pro-Khalistan elements in Canada, Jaishankar cited several instances when smoke bombs were thrown into the Indian missions in the North American country. 

“Throwing smoke bombs to embassies and consulates, advocating violence and separatism against a friendly state is not freedom of speech, this is misuse of freedom of speech,” Jaishankar commented. He added the culprits involved in these attacks must be brought to the book. 

This, however, is not the first time that India  has flagged the issue of space given to separatists, terrorists and anti-India elements in Canada. In December last year, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said: “The core issue remains the space that is given to extremists and terrorists and, anti-India elements in that country.” 

Bagchi’s statement came after the US indicted an Indian national in an alleged plot to kill Khalistani terrorist Gurpatwant Singh Pannun. In November last year, the US federal prosecutors said that a person named Nikhil Gupta was working with an Indian government employee in the foiled plot to kill Pannun. India has already constituted a probe committee to investigate these allegations. 

(With agency inputs)