Unfounded, absurd and baseless insinuations part of Canada's strategy to discredit India: MEA

Terming it as "absurd and baseless", India on Saturday trashed allegations made by the Justin Trudeau-led government that linked Union Home Minister Amit Shah - the "latest Canadian target" - to the targeting of pro-Khalistan activists in Canada, emphasising that the "unfounded insinuations" are part of Ottawa's "conscious strategy" to discredit India.

"We had summoned the representative of the Canadian High Commission yesterday. A diplomatic note was handed over in reference to the proceedings of the Standing Committee on Public Safety and National Security in Ottawa on October 29th, 2024. It was conveyed in the note that the Government of India protests in the strongest terms to the absurd and baseless references made to the Union Home Minister of India before the Committee by Deputy Minister David Morrison," Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said during a weekly media briefing.

"In fact, the revelation that high Canadian officials deliberately leak unfounded insinuations to the international media as part of a conscious strategy to discredit India and influence other nations only confirms the view the Government of India has long held about the current Canadian government's political agenda and behavioral pattern. Such irresponsible actions will have serious consequences for bilateral ties," added Jaiswal.

Earlier this week, while appearing before the Standing Committee on Public Safety and National Security (SECU), Trudeau’s National Security and Intelligence Advisor Nathalie Drouin and Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs David Morrison admitted that they had leaked the so-called 'intelligence" on India, including the details about the killing of Khalistani separatist Hardeep Singh Nijjar last year, to the American media, much before it was revealed at home.

"The leak from Nathalie Drouin and David Morrison, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, accused India's powerful Home Affairs Minister Amit Shah of directing the violent operations from New Delhi," reported Canada's leading daily The Globe and Mail on October 29.

The leaks had once again exposed the Trudeau government's continued vindictive campaign against India.

Last month, Trudeau, who has been harping on having "credible evidence" on India's involvement in the killing of Nijjar, admitted that Ottawa had only some intelligence inputs and no hard proof before publicly accusing India.

Testifying before the country's foreign interference inquiry, Trudeau admitted that New Delhi had demanded sharing of proofs - something that India continues to insist till date - after the allegations.

"At that point, it was primarily intelligence, not hard evidentiary proof," Trudeau admitted in an on-camera hearing before the committee.

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.

India had announced the withdrawal of its High Commissioner Sanjay Kumar Verma and other diplomats from Canada on October 14, after the Trudeau government - in what was termed as "preposterous imputations" by New Delhi - suggested that the Indian diplomats are 'persons of interest' in a matter related to an investigation in the country.

India had repeatedly underlined that, in an atmosphere of extremism and violence, it had no faith in the current Canadian Government's commitment to ensure their security.