CANADA’S response to the Khalistan issue appears to be constrained by its electoral considerations, India said and warned it will have to respond if the activities impinge on its national security.
Khalistan refers to the demand for independent statehood for the Sikh majority areas in north-western India.
External affairs minister S Jaishankar said on Wednesday (28) that the Khalistan issue has impacted India’s ties with Canada in the last few years.
India has been asking Canada against giving space to pro-Khalistan separatists and extremist elements, he said in New Delhi.
“For us, how Canada has dealt with the Khalistani issue has been a long-standing concern. Because very frankly, they seem to be driven by vote-bank politics,” Jaishankar said.
“We made it very clear… that if there are activities which are permitted from Canada that impinge on our sovereignty, territorial integrity and security, then we will have to respond,” he said.
The “continuing conversation” with Canada “is not always a satisfactory”, he said. “You can see that in many ways in the last few years, it has impacted our ties”.
Earlier this month, India slammed Canada after visuals surfaced on social media of a float in Brampton that reportedly celebrated the assassination of former prime minister Indira Gandhi.
Jaishankar said it is not possible for India to have normal relations with Pakistan until the policy of cross-border terrorism changed.
“We can’t allow terrorism to be normalised; we can not allow that to become the basis for getting us into discussions with Pakistan. To me it is a fairly common sense proposition,” he said.
He said the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) cannot function until one member nation changes its policy on terrorism, adding “we can’t have terror by night and trade by day”.
(PTI)
