Amid Nijjar row, Trudeau's Canada called out by nations for harbouring crime and terror

As the India-Canada ties continue to dwindle, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is receiving intense backlash from diplomats and experts from around the world. Amid the chaos, Bangladesh Foreign Minister Dr A. K. Abdul Momen sided with India and called the Nijjar row a “sad episode”. 

Earlier this week, Trudeau hurled baseless “allegations” against India. He claimed New Delhi's involvement in the murder of the pro-Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar. While India rejected the accusations, Canada faced severe backlash from around the world.

Weighing in on the Nijjar row, Momen sided with India, insisting that New Delhi doesn't do “immature things”. "I think it is very sad, I don't know the details of it so I can't make any comment but we are very proud of India because they don't do immature things. We have a very solid relationship with India and these are based on values and principles," Bangladesh's Foreign Minister asserted. Similar stances were taken by other diplomats from countries like Sri Lanka. Even Canadian leaders back home urged Trudeau to be cautious when it comes to spoiling ties with the largest democracy in the world. 

Sri Lanka bashes Trudeau 

Earlier this week Sri Lankan Foreign Minister Ali Sabry unleashed a scathing attack against the Trudeau administration by calling his allegations against India “outrageous and unsubstantiated”. He even went on to accuse Trudeau of providing a “safe haven” to terrorists. Sabry substantiated his claim by stating that Trudeau did the same thing to Sri Lanka in the past. "The same thing they did for Sri Lanka, a terrible, total lie about saying that Sri Lanka had a genocide. Everybody knows there was no genocide in our country," he said while referring to the bizarre remarks made by Trudeau in May this year.

Commemorating the 'Tamil Genocide Remembrance Day', Trudeau said that the ordeal of Tamil Canadians is an "enduring reminder that human rights, peace, and democracy cannot be taken for granted."

Canada sparked another row after the Trudeau administration honoured Nazi Veteran, Russian Ambassador to Canada Oleg Stepanov condemned the move by the Canadian lawmakers. Stepanov said that Trudeau has made Canada “a nest for Nazi criminals”. “I have no illusions because it is impossible to do business with the current Trudeau cabinet, which is the personification of neoliberal fascism," he asserted. 

Trudeau receives backlash back home 

Meanwhile, Canada's opposition leader demanded concrete evidence from Trudeau over his allegations against India. Not only this, Conservative leaders even went on to term Trudeau’s proclamation as a conspiracy theory. “Baseless and unacceptable, that’s how the Indian government described the Prime Minister’s bizarre theory that the death of a convicted terrorist is somehow the fault of agents working on behalf of the Indian government,” Conservative leader Andrew Scheer said in the House of Commons. “Will the PM finally do the right thing and produce some kind of proof of his conspiracy theory,” he asked Trudeau.  Amid the chaos, Leader of the Official Opposition of Canada Pierre Poilievre pointed out that Trudeau’s “careless” remarks have attracted outrage against the Hindus in Canada.

India demands 'specific and relevant' facts 

Giving a stern reply to Canada, External Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar said that Ottawa should provide credible evidence to support its allegations. During a press conference at the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR), Jaishankar noted that India is open to looking at “specific” and “relevant” information in the case. “Yes, I do have a comment. I’ll share with you very frankly what we told the Canadians,” the EAM asserted. "One, we told the Canadians that this is not the government of India’s policy. Two, 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,” he added. 

During the conversation with CFR Distinguished Fellow Kenneth Juster, Jaishankar insisted that one has to understand the “context” when it comes to matters that are “sensitive". “You also have to appreciate that in the last few years, Canada actually has seen a lot of organised crime relating to the secessionist forces, organised crime, violence, extremism. They're all very, very deeply mixed up,” he said. The veteran diplomat mentioned that India has been “badgering” the Canadians to provide “specific information” in the case. “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 added.