India issued a note verbale or diplomatic note to the Canadian high commission conveying its serious objection to the latest actions by the Khalistan elements, they said.
In the note, India is also learnt to have communicated to the high commission its anguish over the space being given to the Khalistani separatists in Canada by the Justin Trudeau government. New Delhi’s protest came a day after the Canadian Parliament observed a “moment of silence” in the memory of Khalistan extremist Hardeep Singh Nijjar, who was gunned down in Surrey, British Columbia, in June last year.
On June 14, PM Modi and his Canadian counterpart Justin Trudeau met briefly on the sidelines of the G7 summit in Italy.
India lodged a formal protest with Canada on Thursday (June 20) after pro-Khalistani elements held a "citizens' court" in front of the Indian consulate building in Vancouver and set ablaze Prime Minister Narendra Modi's effigy.
New Delhi in a diplomatic note to the Canadian high commission conveyed India's strong disapproval of Khalistani extremists being given a free hand by the Justin Trudeau government.
The move comes after Canada's parliament held a moment of silence to mark the first anniversary of Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar's death.
Nijjar was designated a terrorist by New Delhi for fostering separatism in India's Punjab state and related acts of terrorism. He was the chief of Khalistan Tiger Force (KTF) and was killed in a targeted shooting in Canada's Surrey, outside a British Columbia Gurudwara on June 18 last year.
Pro-Khalistan slogans were raised at a rally attended by Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau organised on the occasion of Khalsa Day celebrations in Toronto. Apart from the Canadian PM, leader of the opposition Pierre Poilievre, and Mayor Olivia Chow also attended the event.
At the event, Trudeau assured the Sikh Community in the country that the government is committed to safeguarding their rights and freedoms at all costs. He stated that diversity is one of Canada's greatest strengths, adding that the country is strong not despite its differences, but because of them.
As Prime Minister Justin Trudeau walked up to address the Sikh Community in Toronto during the event, loud pro-Khalistan slogans were raised from the crowd. According to the visuals, several people shouted ‘Khalistan Zindabad’ at the event.Earlier in March this year, pro-Khalistan supporters gathered in Edmonton in Canada's Alberta for a protest that lasted several hours with continuous anti-India chants, targeting the Indian High Commissioner to Canada Sanjay Kumar Verma, who they accused of being involved in the assassination of pro-Khalistan separatist Hardeep Singh Nijjar.
