Sanjay Kumar Verma, the former Indian High Commissioner to Canada, has slammed Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau for “destroying” their bilateral relationship for “political” reasons. He has been recalled by New Delhi amid a spiraling diplomatic row between the two nations.
In an interview with Canadian channel CTV News aired on Sunday, Verma denied Ottawa’s allegations that he and the Indian government were involved in the murder of Sikh separatist Hardeep Singh Nijjar on Canadian soil.
Verma was recalled after Canada alleged that he and other senior diplomats were “persons of interest” in the Nijjar murder probe. He has claimed that members of the extremist Khalistan movement, which seeks the creation of a separate nation state for the Sikh community, “are being encouraged all the time” in Canada.
“This is my allegation; I’m not providing any evidence for it, but I also know that some of these Khalistani extremists and terrorists are deep assets of [Canadian intelligence agency] CSIS,” he said in a conversation with the broadcaster.
While condemning Nijjar’s killing, saying “any murder is wrong and bad,” Verma also suggested that there are countries engaged in extrajudicial killings. “I know the countries that have done it, and some of them are G7 countries, by the way. So let’s not talk about it. There should not be double standards. As far as we are concerned, as the largest democracy in the world, we are committed not to conducting extrajudicial killings on any territory,” the diplomat asserted.
Reiterating New Delhi’s stance on the diplomatic row, which culminated last week with both countries expelling each other’s diplomats, including high commissioners and their deputies, Verma stated that Ottawa had not shared evidence with India. He also compared the situation to a similar one in the US, where Indian agents were linked to an attempted assassination of another prominent Sikh separatist leader, Gurpatwant Singh Pannun.
According to Verma, New Delhi formed a high-level panel after US prosecutors, in an indictment last year, pointed to a link between Indian government agents and the foiled murder plot against Pannun. Last week, an unsealed US indictment named Vikash Yadav in connection with the foiled plot. New Delhi identified Yadav as a former Indian official who is no longer associated with the government.
“As far as the process is concerned, when we were informed, we formed a high-level committee that is working in tandem with US law enforcement agencies,” Verma said, commenting on the American case. He noted that the situation with Canada was different, pointing out that when Trudeau made public accusations against India in September 2023, he had no “hard evidence.” Last week, the Canadian PM admitted his allegations were based on “primarily intelligence, not hard evidentiary proof.”
“No evidence was presented by Canada,” Verma told the Canadian broadcaster. “This is politically motivated.” He stated that Trudeau had ensured that the bilateral relationship with India “only goes downward, spiraling down.” New Delhi has also claimed that Trudeau made his allegations for political gain. Sikhs number around 700,000 according to the 2021 Canadian census, making up a significant voting bloc.