‘Serious About Closer Ties’: Canadian PM Justin Trudeau Calls India ‘Geopolitical Power’ – News18

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said he is very serious about building closer ties with India. He said India is a growing economic power and an important geopolitical power.

“India is a growing economic power and important geopolitical player. And as we presented with our Indo-Pacific strategy last year, we’re very serious about building closer ties with India,” Trudeau said.

According to the National Post, Trudeau said it is “extremely important” that Canada and its allies keep engaging with India. Trudeau told media persons in in Montreal that Canada and its allies should continue to engage “constructively and seriously” with India given its growing importance on the world stage.

The Canadian Prime Minister earlier in September claimed that India was involved in the murder of Khalistani separatist-terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar.

India has outrightly rejected the allegations, terming them ‘absurd’ and ‘motivated’. He, however, is yet to provide any public evidence to support the claim about the murder of Hardeep Singh Nijjar..

Trudeau has not yet presented evidence which backs his claims.

Relations between India and Canada have taken a hit due to the issue but India has maintained that Canada has been told on numerous occasions that anti-Indian elements are operating from Canadian soil and posing a threat to India’s sovereignty.

“We told the Canadians that this is not the government of India’s policy. We told the Canadians saying that look, if you have something specific, if you have something relevant, let us know. We are open to looking at it,” S Jaishankar said earlier this week at a panel discussion organised by the Council of Foreign Relations in New York.

“We have actually been badgering the Canadians, we have given them a lot of information about organised crime leadership, which operates out of Canada. There are a large number of extradition requests. There are terrorist leaders who have been identified,” he further added.

“Our concern is that it’s really been very permissive because of political reasons. So we have a situation where actually our diplomats are threatened, our consulates have been attacked and often comments are made about ‘there’s interference in our politics’. And, a lot of this is often justified as saying, well, that’s how democracies work,” Jaishankar said, referring to the inaction on the inputs given to the Canadian government on such elements.