CHANDIGARH: Joining the protests against the Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau administration’s decision to succumb to domestic political pressure to remove all references to Khalistani extremism in its 2018 report on terrorist threats, Punjab Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh on Sunday described the move as a threat to Indian and global security.
Amarinder expressed shock at the ruling Canadian Liberal Party’s knee-jerk decision, that was clearly aimed at protecting its political interests in an election year, saying it could have serious consequences for Indo-Canadian relations in the long run. "Trudeau was playing with fire with his decision to assuage inflamed domestic passions through this ill-considered move," he added.
Amarinder pointed out that he himself had given proof to the Canadian Prime Minister, during the latter’s India visit, of his country’s soil being used to spread the separatist Khalistani ideology against a friendly country. Trudeau had been informed of Khalistani activists being involved in financing terror activities in India from Canada, said the Chief Minister.
Pointing to the well-known fact that Trudeau’s party was inundated by such activists and separatists, the Chief Minister dubbed the deletion of the various references to Khalistan and Khalistani organisations from the latest threat report as an unpardonable act in the eyes of the peace-loving global community.
Such an act amounted to an endorsement of the terror activities and de facto promotion of extremism, said Amarinder, condemning outright the selective changes made by the Canadian government in its report on threats. Only references with respect to Khalistan and related terms had been targeted by Trudeau administration, he noted, adding that it appeared to be a clear case of the Canadian government giving in to political compulsions.
It was obvious that Trudeau had played safe in view of the upcoming elections in Canada, giving in to pressure within his country, the Chief Minister said. In the process, he had quite blatantly ignored the adverse impact this could have not only on Canada’s relations with India but also on geopolitical stability, he added.
Amarinder warned the Canadian government against encouraging hardliners through such actions, which he said were detrimental to the interest of both India and Canada, as well as the global community. The world could not afford to fan extremism in any form, which was what the Trudeau government was effectively doing with such ill-thought moves, he added.