Sri Lanka Attacks Canada over Diplomatic Row with India
NEW DELHI, Sept 26: Hurt by its earlier allegations against Sri Lanka, the island nation’s foreign minister Ali Sabry has strongly supported India on allegations by Canada of alleged involvement in the killing of a Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar on the Canadian soil in June.
Reacting to the India-Canada diplomatic row, Ali Sabry said terrorists have found safe haven in Canada and their Prime Minister Justin Trudeau came out with the outrageous allegations without any proof. He said he was “not surprised” by his remarks since Trudeau keeps making “outrageous and unsubstantiated allegations.”
“The same thing they did for Sri Lanka, a terrible, total lie about saying that Sri Lanka had a genocide. Everybody knows there was no genocide in our country,” he said.
India-Canada ties hit a new low after Justin Trudeau on September 18 alleged India’s involvement in the fatal shooting of Nijjar, the “Khalistan Tiger Force” chief. Nijjar, a designated terrorist in India, was killed outside a gurdwara in Canada’s Surrey on June 18. India had rejected the allegations as “absurd and motivated”.
Taking a dig at Trudeau for honouring a former Nazi soldier in Canada’s parliament, he said, “I saw yesterday he had gone and given a rousing welcome to somebody who has associated with the Nazis in the past during the Second World War. So, this is questionable and we have dealt with it in the past. I am not surprised that sometimes PM Trudeau comes out with outrageous and unsubstantiated allegations.”
Mr Sabry said Trudeau’s “genocide” comment had affected Sri Lanka- Canada ties. “That has actually affected our relationship. The Foreign Ministry has a different take on that. Ministry of Global Affairs has very clearly said Sri Lanka did not go through a genocide, whereas PM Trudeau as a politician stands up and says that genocide had taken place. That itself is contradictory to each other. That doesn’t help,” said Mr Sabry.
He also advised the Canadian PM not to interfere in the internal matters of a sovereign country. “I don’t think anyone should poke their nose into other countries and tell as to how we should govern our country. We love our country more than anyone else. That’s why we are in our country. We are not very happy about that statement at all. Indian Ocean identity is very important and we need to strengthen the regional architecture. We have to look after our region. We need to work together. That’s how we can create a peaceful environment. We should not be dictated by anyone else as to how we should conduct our affairs,” he added.
Sri Lanka had earlier rejected Trudeau’s statement containing “outrageous claims” of genocide relating to the past conflict in Sri Lanka. The Sri Lankan foreign ministry said such irresponsible and polarizing pronouncements by the leader of a nation breeds disharmony and hatred both in Canada and Sri Lanka, instead of promoting peace and reconciliation.
(Manas Dasgupta)
