Canada on Tuesday assured India that its diplomats would be safe after Khalistani leaders released a controversial poster accusing Indian officials of being involved in the assassination of a separatist leader.
The poster is an invitation to a rally titled “Khalistan Freedom Rally”, which is scheduled to be held on July 8 in Toronto. Titled “Kill India”, the poster accuses 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 Tuesday, Canadian Foreign Minister Melanie Joly said that her country takes its obligations under the Vienna Convention related to safety of diplomats seriously.
Describing the poster as “promotional material”, Joly said they are unacceptable. “We know that actions of a few do not speak for an entire community, or Canada,” she added.
India has also summoned Canadian High Commissioner Cameron MacKayove over the posters, ANI reported, citing unidentified officials.
The development comes a day after External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said that the Indian government has urged Western countries not to give space to Khalistani elements.
“Because their radical, extremist thinking is neither good for us nor them nor our relations,” Jaishankar said when asked about the posters.
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