External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Monday said that the Indian government has urged Western countries not to give space to Khalistani elements, PTI reported.
“We have requested our partner countries like Canada, the US, the UK and Australia, where sometimes Khalistani activities happen, to not to give space to the Khalistanis,” Jaishankar said. “Because their radical, extremist thinking is neither good for us nor them nor our relations.”
The foreign minister made the remarks in response to a question about a controversial poster released by pro-Khalistani leaders in Canada.
The poster is an invitation to a rally titled “Khalistan Freedom Rally” scheduled on July 8 in Toronto, according to The Indian Express.
Titled “Kill India”, the poster accused Indian High Commissioner Sanjay Kumar Verma and Consul General of India in Toronto, Apoorva Srivastava, of assassinating Khalistani leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar.
Nijjar, the chief of Khalistan Tiger Force, was shot dead in the parking lot of a gurdwara in Canada’s Surrey on June 18.
On Monday, Jaishankar said that his ministry will raise the issue of the posters with the Canadian government.
On June 8, Jaishankar had said that Canada was giving space to separatists after videos of a tableau celebrating the assassination of former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi emerged on social media.
Two weeks later, another poster with a 1985 Air India aeroplane bombing accused Talwinder Parmar was seen at a pro-Khalistan rally in Toronto, according to India Today.
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