The Foreign Office (FO) of Pakistan has criticised India for its alleged participation in the murder of Sikh politician Hardeep Singh Nijjar, claiming that the episode exemplifies India’s global “extrajudicial” network of state-sponsored targeted killings.
FO spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch told the media during the weekly press conference in Islamabad on Wednesday that the news of Indian involvement in an extrajudicial execution in Canada reflects that New Delhi’s “network of extra-territorial killings has now gone global.”
In response to a question about Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s claim of “credible evidence” linking India to Nijjar’s murder, a FO spokesperson stated, “India’s assassination of a Canadian national on Canadian soil is a clear violation of international law and the UN principle of state sovereignty.”
Baloch questioned India’s credibility as an appropriate international partner and its demands for increased global responsibilities, calling the episode “reckless and irresponsible.”
She also noted India’s historical experience in such extraterritoriality, emphasising that the country’s top intelligence agency, the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW), had been actively involved in abductions and assassinations across South Asia.
Hardeep Singh Nijjar, a strong supporter of an independent Sikh homeland known as Khalistan and the local leader of Sikhs For Justice and the Khalistan Referendum campaign, was gunned down on June 18 outside a Sikh cultural center in Canada’s British Columbia.
Baloch further reminded the audience that in December 2022, Pakistan produced a detailed dossier including tangible and undeniable evidence of India’s involvement in the June 2021 Lahore attack. Indian intelligence planned and carried out the strike.
Separately, the FO highlighted Kulbhushan Jadhav, a high-ranking Indian military officer commander, who confessed to directing, sponsoring, and carrying out terror and sabotage in Pakistan.
Read More: https://www.economy.pk/indian-govt-likely-behind-murder-of-sikh-leader-in-canada-pm-trudeau/
‘Credible allegations’ linking India with Sikh leader murder: Canadian PM
Earlier this week, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau stated in the House of Commons that Canada’s national security agencies are looking into “credible allegations” that “agents of the government of India” were involved in Hardeep Singh Nijjar’s death.
Canada has also identified the expelled diplomat as Pavan Kumar Rai, the chief of India’s intelligence organisation RAW in Canada, who operates out of the Indian High Commission.
Since then, the two nations have engaged in a diplomatic spat, with Canada dismissing Indian intelligence officer Rai. In response, India summoned the Canadian High Commissioner in New Delhi and informed him that he would be leaving the country on Tuesday.
“The concerned diplomat has been asked to leave India within the next five days,” India’s Ministry of External Affairs said.
