Canada granted only 5 out of 26 requests to extradite terrorists, Indian ambassador says – Firstpost

Of the 26 extradition requests for Khalistani terrorists sent to Canada, Ottawa has complied with only five and the rest remain in limbo, India’s top envoy to the country said, calling it a result of “inaction.”

Five men are in the process of extradition, High Commissioner Sanjay Verma told PTI in an interview this week. He said he was not at liberty to reveal the name or provide details.

The interview took place on Wednesday, a couple of days after he returned to New Delhi. India recalled him and five other Indian diplomats after they were named “persons of interest” in the Canadian investigation into the 2023 killing of Hardeep Singh Nijjar, a Khalistani terrorist who was a Canadian citizen.

Relations between the two countries have plunged to their lowest level ever over the issue of Canada’s tacit support for Khalistani extremists among the large Sikh-Canadian population of about 8 lakh. New Delhi accuses Ottawa of doing little to stop the activities of Khalistani supporters who seek to undermine India’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.

“According to the latest information I had, five of them have been resolved. Twenty-one cases are still pending and have been pending for decades. So I would say it’s more inaction than consultation. All matters that come into the country’s judicial system sometimes require consultation because we adhere to two different judicial systems,” he said.

But if there is no action in the last four to five to 10 years, “I would just call it inaction,” Verma said.

The Ministry of External Affairs recently said that 26 extradition requests involve people facing charges of terrorism and related offenses in India. India has also sought “preventive arrest” of several accused, which is still pending before Canada under the Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty.

Those named by the ministry include Gurjeet Singh, Gurjinder Singh, Gurpreet Singh, Lakbir Singh Landa and Arshdeep Singh Gill.

Nijjar, whom India had declared a terrorist, was shot dead near a gurdwara in Surrey in British Columbia, Canada, on June 18 last year.

During the interview, the recalled envoy also spoke about the long-standing people-to-people ties between the two countries, as well as the origin of the Khalistani issue in Canada and how it became the hotbed of this movement.

Asked if these frosty relations could ever warm up, Verma said: “I would only like to see relations between the two countries improve. But it has to be better, not because we want to make it better, but because (we) both respect each other, we both want to understand each other, we both understand each other’s core problems.” He said India’s core concern is very clear. “Our Canadian friends have been told many times that our biggest concern is the anti-India elements, Khalistani extremists and terrorists who continue to challenge India’s sovereignty and territorial integrity. They (Canada) will have to deal with them somewhere.” He noted that Khalistanis in Canada are citizens of Canada and not of India. “So, what the future of India will be will be decided by Indians. Foreigners will not solve this. They… are of Indian origin, but for us they are foreigners. Foreigners have never had, do not have and will not have the right to interfere in our internal affairs.” Indians first arrived in Canada in the early 1900s by ship. Despite racial discrimination and segregation, Indians continued to live in Canada and eventually became citizens. The second wave of immigration occurred after the 1984 Operation Blue Star against the Golden Temple in Amritsar and the subsequent Sikh militant struggle for the creation of a separate Khalistan state in Punjab.

Although the Khalistani movement currently has no following in Punjab or India, it continues to flourish among a small minority of Sikhs in the Canadian Sikh community.

A second wave of Sikh immigrants found refuge in Canada thanks to Canada’s “lenient legal system,” Verma said. “They were able to obtain permanent residence in Canada, Canadian citizenship. They sought asylum in Canada on fictitious grounds.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by Firstpost staff.)