India denies report of ‘secret memo’ against Hardeep Singh Nijjar: ‘Fake, completely fabricated’

The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) on Sunday denied the reports that India sent a ‘secret memo’ to North American countries asking them to launch a "sophisticated crackdown scheme" against the Sikh diaspora in Western countries. The statement came after a report by The Intercept which claimed that the secret memo was issued in April 2023 and included the name of Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar, who was killed in Canada's Surrey in June 2023.

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While denying the existence of any such memo, the MEA statement called it a part of a sustained disinformation campaign against India and accused Pakistani intelligence of peddling fake narratives. "This is part of a sustained disinformation campaign against India. The outlet in question is known for propagating fake narratives peddled by Pakistani intelligence. The posts of the authors confirm this linkage," the MEA said. "Those who amplify such fake news only do so at the cost of their own credibility," the statement read.

The Intercept, which is an American nonprofit news organization lists in the report “several Sikh dissidents under investigation by India's intelligence agencies including the Canadian citizen Hardeep Singh Nijjar.” The report has been termed as “fake” by the Indian government.

Khalistani terrorist and India-Canada equation

The relations between India and Canada touched fresh lows in September this year after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau accused the “agents of the Indian government” of having a role in the killing of Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar in June 2023. India denied the charges as “absurd” and slammed the Canadian Prime Minister for making such allegations without any evidence.

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The matter even impacted the diplomatic relations between the two nations, leading to a temporary suspension of visa services by India in Canada. Although the services later resumed, Ottawa was compelled to recall approximately 40 diplomats from India, as New Delhi highlighted an imbalance in the diplomatic representation between the two countries.