FO says India’s assassination of a Canadian national on Canadian soil a clear violation of international law n Foreign Secretary says India’s terrorism in Canada is not a matter of surprise for Pakistan n New Delhi alerts Indian nationals to avoid travelling in Canada.

 

ISLAMABAD  -  Pakistan’s Foreign Of­fice Wednesday said that the news of Indi­an involvement in an extrajudicial killing in Canada has shown that India’s network of ex­tra-territorial killings has now gone global.

Responding to a ques­tion at her weekly me­dia briefing in Islam­abad, Foreign Office Spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch said for decades, Indian intelli­gence agency RAW has been actively involved in abductions and assas­sinations in South Asia.

She said Pakistan has remained a target of a series of targeted kill­ings and espionage by RAW. In December last year, Pakistan released a comprehensive dos­sier providing concrete and irrefutable evi­dence of India’s involve­ment in the Lahore at­tack of June 2021. The attack was planned and executed by Indian in­telligence.

She said in 2016, a high-ranking Indian mil­itary officer Commander Kulbhushan Yadav con­fessed his involvement in directing, financing and executing terror and sabotage in Pakistan.

Mumtaz Zahra Baloch said India’s assassination of a Canadian national on Canadian soil is a clear violation of international law and the UN principle of state sovereignty.

She said it is also a reckless and irresponsible act that calls into question India’s reliability as a credible international part­ner and its claims for enhanced global responsibilities.

Replying to another question about statements of Indian civil and military leadership against Pakistan, she said Pakistan has the capacity and will to defend itself. It has done in the past and it will continue to do so.

Answering yet another ques­tion about post-floods situation in Libya, the Spokesperson said the situation in Libya is human catastrophe and a terrible trag­edy on which people of Pakistan are deeply concerned.

She said we have expressed our sympathies with the people of Libya and are in contact with the International Committee of the Red Cross on how Pakistan can offer assistance to Libya in these difficult circumstances. The Spokesperson said Pakistan strongly condemns the recent storming of Al-Aqsa Mosque by a group of extremists under the watch of Israeli occupation forc­es. Pakistan reiterates its call upon the international commu­nity to act in concert to bring an end to Israel’s escalatory prac­tices in the interest of peace, se­curity and stability in the Mid­dle East and beyond.

‘GLOBAL CONDEMNATIONS’ 

The three key allies of Canada issued statements that indicat­ed some support for Trudeau’s decision to go public with his concerns. The White House is “deeply concerned” about the allegations, National Security Council spokesperson Adrienne Watson said, adding it was “crit­ical that Canada’s investigations proceed and the perpetrators be brought to justice.” 

A spokesperson for Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong said the country is also “deeply concerned.” 

“We understand these reports will be particularly concerning to some Australian communi­ties,” a statement said. “The In­dian diaspora are valued and important contributors to our vibrant and resilient multicul­tural society, where all Austra­lians can peacefully and safely express their views.” 

Meanwhile, a spokesperson for the British prime minister said, “It’s right that the Canadi­an authorities are looking into (the matter), but I’m not going to get ahead of that work that needs to take place now.” 

Kugelman said Canada would’ve “gone through a very extensive process” to investi­gate the allegations. “It counts on very close intelligence rela­tionships with the US and the UK and Australia among oth­ers,” he said. Kugelman added it was “notable” that Canada is a member of the so-called Five Eyes, an intelligence pact that also includes the United States, Britain and Australia and New Zealand. 

“Indeed, one would think that Canada would’ve had to under­take a significant, careful inves­tigation before being willing and comfortable to make these allegations public,” he added. 

‘PAKISTAN NOT SURPRISED’

Foreign Secretary Syrus Qazi has said that Pakistan was not “surprised” by Canada’s reve­lations that the Indian govern­ment was involved in the killing of Sikh leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar in British Columbia in June this year.

Qazi, who is accompanying caretaker Prime Minister An­waarul Haq Kakar on a five-day visit to the US to attend the 78th UNGA session, stated this during a media briefing at the Pakistan mission in UN on Wednesday. “India’s terrorism in Canada is not a matter of sur­prise for Pakistan,” the top dip­lomat remarked.

The foreign secretary said Pa­kistan did not find anything un­usual in the Canadian PM’s alle­gations as Pakistan had arrested a serving Indian naval officer Kulbhushan Yadav — an opera­tive of the Indian Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) from Ba­lochistan in March 2016. 

The Indian spy was later sen­tenced to death after he was found guilty of espionage and terror activities to destabi­lise Pakistan. On Monday, Ca­nadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau made a startling reve­lation about the Indian role in the Sikh leader’s killing during a speech at an emergency ses­sion of the assembly.

“Over the past number of weeks, Canadian security agen­cies have been actively pursu­ing credible allegations of a po­tential link between agents of the government of India and the killing of a Canadian citizen Hardeep Singh Nijjar,” Trudeau said, addressing the House of Commons about an “extremely serious matter,” after informing the opposition party leaders.

Reacting to Canada’s reve­lations, the foreign secretary said: “What happened in Cana­da did not surprise us.” He add­ed that there must be some truth to the allegations levelled by the Canadian PM. Referring to Kulbhushan Jadhav, the for­eign secretary said the Indian spy was involved in activities to destabilise Pakistan.

“If anyone in the world is aware of Indian [activities], it is us [Pakistan],” he said. The top diplomat also said that New Del­hi was committing state terror­ism in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK).

‘EXERCISE UTMOST CAUTION’

On Wednesday, India’s foreign ministry said it issued the ad­visory “in view of growing an­ti-India activities and political­ly-condoned hate crimes and criminal violence in Canada”.

The Indian government has of­ten reacted sharply to demands by Sikh separatists in Western countries for Khalistan, or a separate Sikh homeland.

The Khalistan movement peaked in India in the 1980s with a violent insurgency cen­tred in Sikh-majority Punjab state. It was quelled by force and has little resonance in India now, but is still popular among some in the Sikh diaspora in countries such as Canada, Aus­tralia and the UK. 

Canada has the highest num­ber of Sikhs outside Punjab and has seen several pro-Khalistan protests and demonstrations. In Wednesday’s statement, Del­hi said that some recent threats were directed at its diplomats and some Indians “who oppose the anti-India agenda.” 

“Indian nationals are, there­fore, advised to avoid travelling to regions and potential venues in Canada that have seen such incidents,” it said.