Australian foreign minister raises allegations with Indian counterpart of targeting Sikhs in Canada

Australia’s overseas curate said Tuesday she raised allegations with her Indian counterpart that India has targeted Sikh activists successful Canada.

Foreign Minister Penny Wong said she discussed the Canadian allegations with Indian Foreign Minister S. Jaishankar portion helium was successful the Australian capital, Canberra.

India has denied Canada’s allegation that Indian Home Minister Amit Shah ordered the targeting of Sikh activists wrong Canada.

Wong said her connection to the Sikh assemblage was that radical person a close to beryllium harmless and respected successful Australia, careless of who they are.

“We’ve made wide our concerns astir the allegations nether investigation. We’ve said that we respect Canada’s judicial process,” Wong said astatine a quality league with Jaishankar.

“We convey our views to India arsenic you would expect america to bash and we person a principled presumption successful narration to matters specified arsenic the regularisation of instrumentality and the independency of the judiciary and also, frankly, the sovereignty of each countries,” she added.

Jaishankar said Canada has enactment Indian diplomats nether surveillance, which was “unacceptable.”

“Canada has developed a signifier of making allegations without providing specifics,” helium said.

Australia has adjacent intelligence-sharing ties with Canada arsenic members of the Five Eyes confederation that besides includes the United States, Britain and New Zealand.

Over the weekend, India officially protested Canada's allegation of Sikh activists being targeted determination arsenic “absurd and baseless.”

Jaishankar connected Tuesday besides condemned reports of vandalism astatine a Hindu temple adjacent Toronto successful Canada connected Sunday arsenic “deeply concerning.” In videos connected societal media, demonstrators carrying yellowish flags successful enactment of the Sikh separatist question tin beryllium seen clashing with others, including immoderate holding India's nationalist flag, wrong the temple complex. Indian consular officials were visiting the temple wherever the clashes erupted. It was unclear however the unit began.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau called the unit astatine the temple “unacceptable,” adding that “every Canadian has the close to signifier their religion freely and safely.”

The onslaught connected the temple besides drew a beardown rebuke from Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi connected Monday. “Equally appalling are the cowardly attempts to intimidate our diplomats. Such acts of unit volition ne'er weaken India’s resolve,” helium wrote connected the societal media level X, adding that India expects Canada to guarantee justice.

Relations betwixt the 2 countries soured aft Trudeau said past twelvemonth determination were credible allegations the Indian authorities had links to the assassination of Sikh activistic Hardeep Singh Nijjar successful Canada. India has vehemently rejected the accusation.

New Delhi, agelong anxious astir Sikh separatist groups, has progressively accused the Canadian authorities of giving escaped rein to separatists from a once-strong question to make an autarkic Sikh homeland, known arsenic Khalistan, successful India.

The diplomatic enactment led to the expulsion of each side's apical diplomats past month.

Jaishankar said, “We judge successful freedoms, but we besides judge state should not beryllium misused.”

Canada is not the lone state that has accused Indian officials of plotting an assassination connected overseas soil. The United States Justice Department announced transgression charges successful mid-October against an Indian authorities worker successful transportation with an alleged foiled crippled to termination a Sikh separatist person surviving successful New York City.

The Justice Department said Vikash Yadav, who authorities accidental directed the New York crippled from India, faces murder-for-hire charges successful an alleged planned sidesplitting that prosecutors person antecedently said was meant to precede a drawstring of different politically motivated murders successful the United States and Canada.