New Delhi, Sep 10 (EFE).- Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed “strong concern” about alleged anti-India activities taking place in Canada during his meeting with his Canadian counterpart, Justin Trudeau, on Sunday.
Trudeau and Modi held a bilateral meeting following the conclusion of the two-day G20 summit in the Indian capital.
“He (Modi) conveyed our strong concerns about the continuing anti-India activities of extremist elements in Canada,” said a statement from Modi’s office.
Without naming anyone or any group, the statement noted some elements were “promoting secessionism and inciting violence against Indian diplomats, damaging diplomatic premises, and threatening the Indian community in Canada and their places of worship.”
The PMO statement said the nexus of “such forces with organized crime, drug syndicates, and human trafficking should be a concern for Canada as well.”
“It is essential for the two countries to cooperate in dealing with such threats.”
Modi emphasized to Trudeau the significance of building India-Canada relations based on “mutual respect and trust for progress.”
The statement did not provide any information on incidents targeting Indians in Canada.
However, India has repeatedly raised the issue of Canada allowing the Khalistani Sikh separatist groups to operate there.
Sikh separatist groups have been demanding Khalistan nationhood in the northern Indian state of Punjab since the movement peaked in the 1980s and left thousands dead in its wake.
Between 1981 and 1995, the violent Sikh armed uprising killed an estimated 25,000 people in Punjab.
The crisis in Punjab reached its peak in June 1984, when the Indian Army clashed with hundreds of armed pro-independence fighters at the sacred Golden Temple, leaving more than 500 dead.
A few months later, two Sikh bodyguards assassinated India’s then-Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, unleashing a wave of violence against the minority group in New Delhi in which nearly 2,800 people were killed.
Sikhs form a large chunk of the 1.6 million Indian diaspora in Canada.
Last year, the Indian government advised its nationals in Canada to exercise caution after what it said was “a sharp increase in incidents of hate crimes, sectarian violence, and anti-India activities” there. EFE
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