Canada on Friday denied that it has said or is aware of evidence linking Prime Minister Narendra Modi, external affairs minister S. Jaishankar, or national security advisor Ajit Doval to what Ottawa called “the serious criminal activity within Canada”.
“On October 14th, because of a significant and ongoing threat to public safety, the RCMP and officials took the extraordinary step of making public accusations of serious criminal activity in Canada perpetrated by agents of the Government of India,” said a statement from the deputy clerk of the Privy Council and national security and intelligence advisor to the Canadian Prime Minister, Nathalie G. Drouin.
“The Government of Canada has not stated, nor is it aware of the evidence, linking Prime Minister Modi, Minister Jaishankar, or NSA Doval to the serious criminal activity within Canada,” it said.
“Any suggestion to the contrary is both speculative and inaccurate,” it added.
The official denial comes two days after leading Canadian daily The Globe and Mail reported that Canadian security agencies allege that Prime Minister Modi was in the loop about the killing of Sikh separatist Hardeep Singh Nijjar and plans to eliminate other prominent Khalistani leaders in Canada.
“The official said the (Canadian) assessment is that it would be unthinkable that three senior political figures in India would not have discussed the targeted killings with Mr. Modi before proceeding,” according to the Canadian newspaper.
Indian officials have always denied any complicity in Nijjar’s murder or any plot to target any leader.
Experts in India point out that knowledge about intelligence operations is usually shared only on what is called “a need-to-know basis.”