Foreign Secretary Syrus Qazi has said Pakistan is not surprised by the Canadian accusation of Indian involvement in a separatist Sikh leader’s killing on its soil and the world must recognise the ways of the country it considered “a supposedly indispensable ally”.
Qazi’s remarks came during a Tuesday night press briefing at the United Nations Mission in New York, where he is accompanying interim Prime Minister Anwaarul Haq Kakar to attend the 78th UN General Assembly session.
“We are aware of the nature of our eastern neighbour, we know what they are capable of … so it is not a surprise for us.
“We caught [one of their] serving naval intelligence officers on our soil. He is in our custody and admitted that he came here to create instability and spread evil,” he said when asked for a comment on the allegations levelled against India.
The allegation, centring on the killing of Sikh separatist leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar in June in Canada, was made on Monday, with Ottawa expelling India’s top intelligence agent over the matter.
Nijjar supported a Sikh homeland in the form of an independent Khalistani state and was designated by India as a “terrorist” in July 2020. He had denied those charges, according to the World Sikh Organisation of Canada, a nonprofit organisation that says it defends the interests of Canadian Sikhs.
Canada said it was “actively pursuing credible allegations” linking Indian government agents to the murder of the Sikh separatist leader.
Meanwhile, PM Justin Trudeau said in an emergency statement to the House of Commons that any involvement of a foreign government in the killing of a Canadian citizen was “an unacceptable violation of our sovereignty”.
He has also demanded that India treat with “utmost seriousness” the bombshell revelation of its probe into the murder.
In response, India expelled on Tuesday a Canadian diplomat with five days’ notice to leave the country.
New Delhi also dismissed the Canadian accusation as “absurd and motivated” and urged it instead to take legal action against anti-Indian elements operating from its soil.
Commenting on the matter, Syrus said, “There must be some truth to the Canadian premier’s allegation, that’s why they levelled it.” He added that the situation was developing, “but going by our experience, we are not surprised”.
example of it, and the world needs to know,” he added, referring to the former Indian naval officer who was arrested in Pakistan on March 3, 2016 and said in a confessional video he was in the country for “intelligence gathering for Indian agencies”.
In response to a question about conflicts with India, Qazi refused that Pakistan’s responses had been defensive.
“If there is any country that understands India correctly, that’s us. And we are the only country in many respects that is not afraid of India,” he further stated, highlighting that Pakistan had been resolutely protecting its freedom against a rival country 60 times bigger in size.
“We have been doing this for the past 70 years … and will do it again when the need arises.”
Again referring to the India-Canada row, he added, “This is no surprise for us, but the world must realise what are the ways of the country they have made their supposedly indispensable ally.”
The row over the Sikh leader’s killing is the latest in an escalating row between India and Canada.
There were signs of a brewing crisis before PM Trudeau revealed the probe into Nijjar’s death on Monday.
Modi had expressed “strong concerns about continuing anti-India activities of extremist elements in Canada” during his meeting with Trudeau at the G20.
Canada had also suspended negotiations for a free-trade agreement with India, and last week its trade minister cancelled a trip to the country planned for October.
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