Sanjay Kumar Verma, the outgoing High Commissioner of India to Canada, accused Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau of destroying relations between the two countries for political gains.
India recalled Verma and other Canadian diplomats after Ottawa named him a ‘person of interest’ in its investigation into the killing of Khalistan terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar.
In an interview with Canadian independent broadcaster, CTV, Sanjay Verma said, “Canada did not follow the practice that should have been there. Evidence should have been given first, but someone (Trudeau) decided to stand in Parliament and talk about something. He himself said there was no concrete evidence.”
“And the day he did that, from then on, he made sure that bilateral relations with India only went down, down,” he added.
Sanjay Verma was referring to him Justin Trudeau’s speech to the Parliament of Canada in September last year when he alleged the involvement of Indian government agents in the killing of Nijjar, a Canadian citizen.
Despite making him a ‘person of interest’ in the Nijjar murder case, Canada has not provided any evidence to India, something Trudeau agreed to an investigation into foreign interference on October 16.
“The problem is that when he accused him, he admitted that there was no concrete evidence. There was intelligence. On the basis of intelligence, if you want to destroy the relationship, be my guest,” said Verma.
Sanjay Verma said that the evidence given by Canada is hearsay. “I know, for sure, that they are going from one person to another, asking them about the rumours. Most of them are pro-Khalistan elements, anti-India elements,” he said.
Verma also highlighted the hypocrisy of the West, saying “gone are the days when so-called developed countries will ask a developing country if it should do this, and they will chase them to do it”.
“We are a country governed by the rule of law, as Canada prides itself on being a country governed by the rule of law. So, you will not give me evidence that is suitable for my legal process?” he asked.
Sanjay Verma said that he and his colleagues are monitoring pro-Khalistan and anti-India elements in Canada, but not using any covert methods.
“If Canadian politicians are novices and want me to know what my enemies are doing here, I’m sorry, they don’t know what international relations are about,” said Verma.
“I know countries that have done (extrajudicial killings). And some of them are G7 countries, by the way. So let’s not talk about it. There shouldn’t be double standards,” he added.
Verma explained how his mission went about gathering information in Canada.
“We read the newspapers, we read their (pro-Khalistan groups) statements. As we understand Punjabi, we read their social media and tried to deceive them,” he said.
Sanjay Verma stressed that India, the world’s largest democracy, is committed to not killing people illegally anywhere.