Overview
- High Commissioner Dinesh Patnaik rejected allegations of Indian state involvement in Hardeep Singh Nijjar’s 2023 killing and called the claims preposterous without proof.
- He stressed that Canada’s ongoing case targets four individuals rather than the Government of India and asked where any case against a state exists.
- Patnaik said India would prosecute any wrongdoers itself if Ottawa shares credible evidence, accusing Canada of applying double standards on proof.
- He pointed to decades of Indian warnings about Khalistani extremism in Canada, invoking the unresolved 1985 Air India bombing and a lack of convictions.
- The remarks followed public acknowledgments by Canadian intelligence of extremist activity and came as British Columbia’s premier visits India and Prime Minister Mark Carney plans a trip.