Congress' Jairam Ramesh hopes PM Modi takes Oppn into confidence over diplomatic row with Canada

Jairam Ramesh. File Pic

Congress General Secretary in charge of Communications, Jairam Ramesh, has said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi would consult opposition leaders and heads of various political parties regarding the "extremely sensitive and critical" issue of India-Canada relations.

In a post on X, Ramesh said on Monday, "The Indian National Congress certainly hopes and expects that Prime Minister Narendra Modi will take into confidence the Leaders of the Opposition in both Houses of Parliament and the leaders of other political parties on this extremely sensitive and critical issue of India-Canada relations."

Earlier on Monday, India expelled six Canadian diplomats after summoning Canada's Charge d'Affaires, Stewart Wheeler, and conveyed that the "baseless targeting" of the Indian High Commissioner and other diplomats and officials in Canada was completely unacceptable.

"The Indian government has decided to expel the following six Canadian Diplomats: Stewart Ross Wheeler, Acting High Commissioner; Patrick Hebert, Deputy High Commissioner; Marie Catherine Joly, First Secretary; lan Ross David Trites, First Secretary; Adam James Chuipka, First Secretary; Paula Orjuela, First Secretary," the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said in a statement.

"They have been asked to leave India by or before 11:59 p.m. on Saturday, October 19, 2024," the MEA added. The diplomatic fallout comes after allegations by Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) Commissioner Mike Duheme, who claimed they have information on certain criminal activity carried out by agents of the Indian government.

"Over the past few years and more recently, law enforcement agencies in Canada have successfully investigated and charged a significant number of individuals for their direct involvement in homicides, extortions & other criminal acts of violence. In addition, there have been well over a dozen credible imminent threats to life which have led to the conduct of duty to warn, by law enforcement with members of South Asian community and specifically, members of the pro-Khalistan movement," Duheme said.

The RCMP further claimed that investigations have revealed that Indian diplomats and consular officials based in Canada leveraged their official positions to engage in clandestine activities, such as collecting information for the Government of India, either directly or through their proxies; and other individuals who acted voluntarily or through coercion.

The ties between India and Canada soured after Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, in a parliamentary address last year, claimed that he has "credible allegations" of India's hand in the killing of Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar.

Nijjar, designated a terrorist by India's National Investigation Agency in 2020, was shot dead outside a gurdwara in Surrey in June 2023. India has strongly denied the allegations, calling them "absurd" and "motivated". It has also accused Canada of giving space to extremist and anti-India elements in their country.