The Indian High Commissioner to Canada who was targeted by Justin Trudeau and has since been recalled by New Delhi reiterated today that “not a shred of evidence was shared” with him by the Canadian authorities who labelled him and five other diplomats as ‘persons of interest’ in the murder investigation of Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar.
Speaking exclusively to NDTV in his first interview since his return to India, Mr Verma said that it was in fact India which had shared detailed evidence of radical and extremist groups operating on Canadian soil with the Justin Trudeau government, but “no action was taken on it” by either the government or the authorities.
“Besides the evidence shared with Canada, New Delhi, through its High Commission, also repeatedly sent extradition requests for 26 radical elements and gangsters, but nothing was done about it by the,” he said, adding that it is purely “double standards” by Canada, that “one law applies to you and another law applies to me, that doesn’t work in the world anymore. In the past countries of the Global South would do as was told to them by the developed nations, but gone are those days,” he said.
OUT OF THE BLUE
He revealed that in his last meeting with the Canadian authorities, it came as a surprise to him when he was informed by them that he and five other colleagues were now labelled “persons of interest” in the murder investigation and that they should “ask the Indian government to remove their diplomatic immunity”.
“Throughout my tenure (as High Commissioner of Canada), my relations with all the ministries and with interlocutors were very cordial, But on October 12, all of a sudden, in a meeting with Canadian foreign ministry, I was informed that six of us were being linked to the murder investigation and for them to interrogate us, our diplomatic immunity has to be removed.”
“Now that was going too far,” he told NDTV, adding that he communicated this to New Delhi, which then decided to recall him and the other diplomats.
‘DECLARED PERSONA NON GRATA’
“When the Government of India withdrew us, they (Canadian government) decided to label us as ‘persona non grata’ and be sent packing within a given timeline.”
This is the first time in India’s diplomatic history that any foreign ministry official or representative has been labeled a persona non grata, which means a person who is no longer welcomed, and in diplomacy, if the person concerned is not recalled by the home country as requested, the host state may refuse to recognize the person concerned as a member of the diplomatic mission – meaning their immunity ends.
Canada is considered a friendly country to India, but “Even in the case of Pakistan, where we have had known differences for decades, the last high commissioner to be recalled by New Delhi, my predecessor in Canada, Mr Ajay Bisaria, he remained a high commissioner who was called back and remained the then High Commissioner of Pakistan, even though he stopped residing in Pakistan.”