‘Space given to terrorists, anti-India elements’: India to Canada after Justin Trudeau’s ‘tonal shift’ jibe

India on Thursday rejected Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's jibe that New Delhi's ties with Ottawa may have undergone a ‘tonal shift’ saying that the core issue with Canada is that it gives space to separatists, terrorists and anti-India elements.

Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said, "Our position has been consistent. We have highlighted how we see the problem and frankly, the core issue remains the space that is given to extremists, terrorists and anti-India elements in that country." 

"I would not like to say whether they have noted a shift or not. Certainly, our positions have remained consistent and we would hope that they would take action on such extremist elements that are misusing freedom of speech and expression from their country," Bagchi added.

The Canadian prime minister had on Wednesday said he felt a tonal shift in relations with India after the United States indictment of an Indian national in the alleged plot of the murder of separatist Gurpatwant Singh Pannun.

The ties between India and Canada hit rock bottom after Trudeau accused Indian agents of conspiring to kill Khalistan separatist Hardeep Singh Nijjar in British Columbia. New Delhi rejected the charges as “absurd.”

"I think there is a beginning of an understanding that they cannot bluster their way through this and there is an openness to collaborating in a way that perhaps they were less open before," the Canadian prime minister said on Wednesday.

"There is an understanding that maybe, maybe just churning out attacks against Canada is not going to make this problem go away. We do not want to be in a situation of having a fight with India right now over this," he added.

"We want to be working on that trade deal. We want to advance the Indo-Pacific strategy. But it is foundational for Canada to stand up for people's rights, for people's safety and for the rule of law. And that is what we are going to do," Trudeau said.

Trudeau was referring to the US indictment accusing a man named Nikhil Gupta of working with an Indian government employee to plot to kill Pannun on American soil. The US said it foiled the alleged plan.

On December 7, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said in Parliament that the Indian government has instituted an inquiry committee to look into the inputs received from the US. However, he made it clear that there will be "no equitable treatment" to Canada's allegations as no specific evidence or inputs were provided to New Delhi by Ottawa.

(With Agency inputs)