Jagmeet Singh pushes for India-Canada committee amid diplomatic row, turned down

Pro-Khalistani leader Jagmeet Singh’s proposal to form an India-Canada committee to delve into New Delhi’s “interference” in Ottawa’s democracy was quashed by Canadian Parliament. Singh blamed the Conservative Party for rejecting the move to create the committee, and accused some Parliamentarians of being directly connected with foreign interference from India.
The New Democratic Party leader’s proposal came amid a standoff between the two countries over the killing of Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar in June last year.
“Every party in the House of Commons must show the government of India that we are a united front. That a government like Narendra Modi’s cannot find an ally in this Parliament willing to look the other way, and that we all take foreign interference incredibly seriously. I’m calling for the creation of a Canada-India committee, so parliamentarians can look into this important matter and propose additional steps the government can take to protect Canadians and our country.” he said.
Singh doubled down on his demand for severe sanctions on India after the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) claimed that Indian agents present in Canada were working with the Lawrence Bishnoi gang to target pro-Khalistan elements.
“I am disappointed that the Liberals shut down our attempt to bring in an India-Canada relations committee. What I’m disappointed by is that this is an ongoing trend with the Liberals…they’ve put up barricade after barricade to pursue foreign interference. I know that the work of this committee may not look good on the Liberals and on their inaction. But as our Prime Minister himself said that there are Conservative Parliamentarians who are directly connected to foreign interference coming from the Indian government, that needs to be taken seriously,” he said.
Sharing a clip of his remarks inside the Parliament on X, Jagmeet Singh accused the Indian government of “hiring thugs to terrorise Canadians” and claimed that the country’s democracy was under threat.
The ongoing India-Canada diplomatic row took a sharp last week when New Delhi lashed out at Ottawa over its charge that the Indian High Commissioner and other diplomats are ‘persons of interest’ linked to an investigation into the murder of Nijjar. India dismissed them as “preposterous imputations” and downgraded its ties with Canada.
In a tit-for-tat move, both India and Canada had earlier recalled six of their diplomats as New Delhi chided Ottawa for not sharing a “shred of evidence” of India’s involvement in Nijjar’s killing and not doing enough to tackle separatist elements on Canadian soil.
Jagmeet Singh had earlier called for a ban on the RSS Network in Canada, calling it a “violent, militant, terrorist organisation from India”. He said that Canada needs to work with its allies like the US and the UK to put pressure on India.
There’s got to be accountability. The Indian government has to be held to account. The Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government has to be held to account. We all need to be unified as Canadian leaders. All of us have to be united in denouncing PM Modi and making sure we protect Canadians and put their safety first and foremost,” he said.