Chandigarh: Accusing the government of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in Canada of ‘succumbing to domestic political pressure to remove all references to Khalistani extremism in its 2018 report on terrorist threats’, Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh on Sunday said the move was a threat to Indian and global security.
Amarinder Singh 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 India-Canadian relations in the long run.
“Trudeau is playing with fire with his decision to assuage inflamed domestic passions through this ill-considered move,” Amarinder Singh said.
The Chief Minister pointed out that he himself had given proof to the Canadian Prime Minister, during the latter’s India visit in February last year, of Canada’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,” the Chief Minister said.
“Pointing to the well-known fact that Trudeau’s party was inundated by such activists and separatists, the Chief Minister dubbed the erasure 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,” Amarinder Singh’s spokesman said. “Such an act amounted to endorsement of the terror activities and de facto promotion of extremism,” the Chief Minister added. (PTI)
