• Source:JND
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Canada on Sunday said India’s territorial integrity must be respected, in the first such statement since Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's allegations about the "potential" involvement of Indian government agents in the killing of Khalistani separatist terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar, who was a Canadian citizen.

Appearing before the foreign interference commission in Ottawa over the weekend, Canada's Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs David Morrison said: "Canada's policy is very clear that India's territorial integrity must be respected. There's one India, and that's been made very clear".

Regarding the activities of pro-Khalistan elements living in Canada, he, however, said it was "awful but lawful". There are things that "many of us want not to see" but that are protected under Freedom of Speech rights.

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The declaration about One India, however, was meant to clarify Ottawa's position on the stance of Khalistanis, many of whom are Canadian citizens.

Earlier, PM Trudeau had said that talks with India can now resume on "some very serious issues around national security and keeping Canadians safe and the rule of law".

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India Rejected Trudeau's Accusations

Last year, India had rejected Trudeau's allegations and called it 'absurd' and 'motivated'. MEA in an official statement had said, "We have seen and reject the statement of the Canadian Prime Minister in their Parliament, as also the statement by their Foreign Minister. Allegations of the Government of India's involvement in any act of violence in Canada are absurd and motivated. Similar allegations were made by the Canadian Prime Minister to our Prime Minister, and were completely rejected." Bilateral relations, subsequently, had plummeted, and trade talks between the two nations had derailed.

Hardeep Singh Nijjar, 45, the chief of the banned Khalistan Tiger Force, was shot dead by two unidentified gunmen on June 18 last year outside a gurdwara in Surrey.