Ottawa, Oct 20 (IANS) In his first reaction after being withdrawn by New Delhi following Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's continued "hostility" towards India, senior diplomat and High Commissioner Sanjay Kumar Verma on Sunday termed the allegations levelled by Ottawa as "politically motivated" with no evidence whatsoever presented by the Canadian government of India's alleged involvement in last year's killing of Khalistani separatist Hardeep Singh Nijjar.
"Nothing at all. No evidence was presented. Politically motivated," Verma told Canada's CTV ahead of his departure from the country.
Earlier this week, India decided to withdraw its High Commissioner and "other targeted diplomats and officials" from Canada after the Trudeau government - in what was termed as "preposterous imputations" by New Delhi - suggested that the Indian High Commissioner and other diplomats are 'persons of interest' in a matter related to an investigation in the country.
"If Mr. Trudeau or his colleagues know about it, is it not a crime not to file a charge sheet? Is it not a crime not to go by the judicial process? On what basis do they want to question me... If you are a defendant, for example, which I am not, then you would be shared with evidence and that happens even if you are caught for a petty crime. If I'm going for an interrogation I need to know what I am interrogated for. I need to know what evidence you have so I go prepared," Verma told the Canadian network when asked about India's refusal to join the so-called ongoing investigations.
The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) had slammed Ottawa for casting aspersions on Verma - one of India's senior-most serving diplomats with a distinguished career spanning 36 years and who has been an Ambassador in Japan and Sudan, while also serving in Italy, Turkey, Vietnam and China - terming them as "ludicrous" which deserved to be treated with contempt.
During the interview, Verma made it clear that the Indian government has "never" targeted individuals with the intent of causing their death.
New Delhi has been asserting for a long time that the Trudeau government has "consciously provided" space to violent extremists and terrorists to harass, threaten and intimidate Indian diplomats and community leaders in Canada.
As it announced its decision to withdraw Verma and other diplomats on October 14, India had underlined that, in an atmosphere of extremism and violence, it had no faith in the current Canadian Government's commitment to ensure their security.
"The first point is show me the evidence and I have been talking about it from the very first day... Also, do we want to know what the Khalistani elements are doing in Canada. Yes, that we have to know. It is our national interest and the core concern with Canada which is trying to tore up the Indian territory. So, if the Canadian politicians are so novice that they want me not to know what my enemies are doing here, then they don't know what international relations are all about," Verma told CTV.
On Wednesday, while testifying before the country's foreign interference inquiry, Trudeau had admitted that Ottawa had some intelligence inputs and no hard proof before accusing India of killing Nijjar.
"At that point, it was primarily intelligence, not hard evidentiary proof," Trudeau admitted in an on-camera hearing before the committee.
Interestingly, Trudeau continues to walk on thin ice, both at home and abroad, with many leaders from his own party and several Members of Parliament planning to go beyond just publicly expressing dissatisfaction with his leadership and getting ready to officially demand his resignation in the coming days.
On Thursday, it was reported by the Canadian media that at least 20 MPs have agreed to put their names on a demand to oust Trudeau - a move which it said appears to be "quickly snowballing into a serious effort" to force him out.
India has made it clear several times that Trudeau has been working on a "deliberate strategy" - of smearing India for political gains.
"What we have heard today only confirms what we have been saying consistently all along - Canada has presented us no evidence whatsoever in support of the serious allegations that it has chosen to level against India and Indian diplomats. The responsibility for the damage that this cavalier behaviour has caused to India-Canada relations lies with Prime Minister Trudeau alone," said Randhir Jaiswal, the spokesperson for the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) on Thursday.
--IANS
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