Washington | India believes that Canada doesn't take seriously violence or terrorism or incitement to hatred seriously, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said on Wednesday as he cited foundational responsibility for the Canadian government for not taking actions against those espousing violence and terrorism against a third country.
Testifying before the public inquiry into foreign interference in federal electoral processes and democratic institutions, Trudeau said the Canadian government is seeking India's help to find out if the alleged interference and violence was done either by a rogue element or directed by someone higher up in the government.
Trudeau had no definite answer when asked if the alleged interference was a rogue element or authorized by the responsible members of the Government of India.
“I think that is an extremely important question and that is a question that actually we have been repeatedly asking the government of India to assist us on and to get to the bottom of the question of whether it is or could be rogue elements within the government or whether it was a more systemic, systematic endeavor for the government of India is exactly the kind of thing that for investigators here on the ground in Canada, it is somewhat removed from being able to uncover the internal machinations of the Indian government of who went wrong or who did this or who did that,” Trudeau said.
“That's why from the very beginning we have been asking for India, the Indian government to take these allegations seriously and proceed with their own investigations and work with us on figuring out exactly how these egregious violations of Canadian sovereignty actually happened,” he said.
“I'd actually say there seemed to be two goals in this. One is yes to make Canadians particularly South Asian Canadians feel less safe here in their own country. But, secondly is actually to help prove a point that the Indian government has been trying to make about Canada for quite some time, that we are a country that doesn't take seriously violence or terrorism or incitements to hatred, which is entirely false, but failing an ability to point out how Canada has been supposedly failing to prevent violence,” Trudeau told the public inquiry.
“It seems like folks within the Indian government have decided to create violence and unlawfulness in Canada as a way of demonstrating the point that they are trying to make that there is violence and unlawfulness in Canada and I think that is exceptionally egregious as an approach to as a neighbor, a sovereign democracy,” he said.
Responding to a question, Trudeau said Canada is not looking to provoke or create a fight with India.
“The Indian government made a horrific mistake in thinking that they could interfere as aggressively as they did in the safety and sovereignty of Canada, and we need to respond in order to ensure Canadian's safety. What other steps we will take will be determined in due course, but every step of the way our single overarching priority is ensuring that we are keeping all Canadians safe,” he said.
When asked if Canada will suspend its 2018 intelligence sharing agreement with India, Trudeau said Canada's policy is around one India.
“We believe in the territorial integrity and the sovereignty of India. We respect that. We certainly expect India to respect the sovereignty of Canada, which in this case they have not,” he said.
“It is also extremely important that people who come to this country from every corner of the world understand that they are free to hold the political beliefs that they choose to when you're in Canada,” he said.
“We have a charter that protects people's freedoms, people's freedom of expression, people's freedoms of political views, and that is not just a foundational principle of free democracies all around the world, but it's particularly important for Canada. That is a country to which people have come from every corner of the world in some cases choosing to leave their home country because of political disagreements or other reasons. So defending the rights of people to hold political views that may be unpopular in their home country is a foundational responsibility for any Canadian government,” Trudeau said.
Responding to a question, the Canadian prime minister said the issue of the Indian government as possible source of foreign interference is not something that only appeared over the past weeks or even over the past year.
“Canadian intelligence agencies have been collecting that information for a number of years now. We are constantly adapting and adjusting to shifting approaches by other states as they engage through different technologies, through different means, through different vectors into advancing their aims in Canada and we will continue to learn and adjust as necessary to do what we must do to keep Canadians safe, to protect our institutions and our democracy,” he said.
