A day after tensions between India and Canada escalated as both countries expelled a senior diplomat from the other side, New Delhi issued a travel advisory to Indians planning to travel to Canada. Wednesday’s advisory was issued “in view of growing anti-India activities and politically-condoned hate crimes and criminal violence in Canada.”
On Tuesday, Canadian Premier Justin Trudeau accused India of being behind the killing of Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar, citing “credible allegations” in his Parliament. This has drawn sharp reactions from not only the Indian government, lawmakers, and citizens across the country, but also the Indian diaspora in Canada.
An India News survey on Wednesday focused on opinions related to Khalistani issues and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s statements found that 42.04% of respondents believed that Trudeau’s unsubstantiated allegations were “very shameful.” Others (38.7%) believed that this was a move to win the support of a Khalistani vote bank based in Canada.
Notably, 75.10% of respondents felt that Canada has in the recent past become a “safe haven” for Khalistani terrorists and supporters.
As for what the government’s next steps regarding should be, the vote was split between compiling a list of Khalistani bases or camps in Canada (26.12%) and severing all diplomatic relations with the country (27.76%). Others felt that India should expose Canada’s actions internationally (12.24%) or diplomatically confront the Trudeau administration (18.78%). Of the total respondents, 84.49% agreed that the Indian government should pass a censure motion against Justin Trudeau in Parliament and that Trudeau should issue a public apology for his allegations.
In the meantime, the NIA, in stepping up its crackdown on Khalistani terrorists, announced cash rewards for information leading to the arrest of five Babbar Khalsa International (BKI) operatives, including Harwinder Singh Sandhu alias “Rinda” and Lakhbir Singh Sandhu alias “Landa”.