New Delhi: Congress has asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi to take the Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha on the “extremely sensitive and delicate issue” of India’s diplomatic rift with Canada that has led to both countries expelling each other’s diplomats.
On Monday, India announced the expelling of six Canadian diplomats and also recalled its high commissioner from Canada, citing the country’s failure to protect its nationals.
The Canadian diplomats have been instructed to leave India by 11:59 p.m. on October 19. This decision followed a meeting in which Canadian Charge d’Affaires Stewart Wheeler was summoned to India’s Ministry of External Affairs (MEA).
During the meeting, Indian officials strongly condemned the baseless “targeting” of High Commissioner Sanjay Verma and other diplomats, and the linking of these officials to the investigation into the killing of Sikh extremist Hardeep Singh Nijjar, calling it “completely unacceptable.”
Congress reacts to India-Canada row
Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh said the party expects the prime minister to apprise the Leader of Opposition in both Houses on the ongoing situation.
“The Indian National Congress certainly hopes and expects that Prime Minister Narendra Modi will take the Leader of Opposition in both Houses of Parliament, and the leaders of other political parties into confidence immediately on the extremely sensitive and delicate issue of worsening India-Canada relations,” he wrote in a post on X.
The Indian National Congress certainly hopes and expects that Prime Minister @narendramodi will take the Leader of Opposition in both Houses of Parliament, and the leaders of other political parties into confidence immediately on the extremely sensitive and delicate issue of…
— Jairam Ramesh (@Jairam_Ramesh) October 14, 2024
Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge is the LoP in the Rajya Sabha and Rahul Gandhi is the Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha.
New Delhi has characterized the charges against High Commissioner Sanjay Verma as “concocted” and “preposterous imputations,” attributing them to the “political agenda of the Trudeau government focused on vote bank politics.”
The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) stated that India received a “diplomatic communication from Canada” suggesting that the Indian High Commissioner and other diplomats are considered “persons of interest” in an investigation in Canada.
Canadian Charge d’Affaires (CDA) Stewart Wheeler was summoned by MEA Secretary (East) Jaideep Mazumdar, who emphasized that, in an environment of extremism and violence, the actions of the Trudeau government have “endangered” the safety of Indian diplomats and other officials.
Relations between India and Canada deteriorated significantly after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau alleged in September of last year that Indian agents may have been involved in the killing of Hardeep Singh Nijjar. He was gunned down in Surrey, British Columbia, in June last year. New Delhi had rejected Trudeau’s charges as “absurd.
