Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Thursday congratulated Prime Minister Narendra Modi on his win in the Lok Sabha elections.
A message posted by Trudeau’s office on X quoted him as saying, “Canada stands ready to work with [Modi’s] government to advance the relationship between our nations’ peoples—anchored to human rights, diversity, and the rule of law.”
While the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance is likely to form the government at the Centre, the Hindutva party itself failed to secure the majority in the Lower House of Parliament, with its final tally at 240 seats. The final tally of the National Democratic Alliance was 292 seats.
A party or coalition requires 272 seats in the 543-member Lower House of Parliament to do so.
Modi is expected to be sworn in on June 8, according to media reports.
Trudeau’s congratulatory message comes amidst strained diplomatic ties between India and Canada, which broke down last year after the murder of Sikh separatist Hardeep Singh Nijjar near Vancouver.
In September, Canadian prime minister told his country’s parliament that intelligence agencies were actively pursuing “credible allegations” tying agents of the Indian government to Nijjar’s murder.
Nijjar was a supporter of Khalistan, an independent Sikh nation sought by some groups. He was the head of the Khalistan Tiger Force, which is designated a terrorist outfit in India.
New Delhi rejected Canada’s allegations as “absurd and motivated” and said that they were an attempt by Ottawa to divert attention from the fact that it was providing shelter to those threatening India’s sovereignty.
Following the accusations, New Delhi suspended visa services for Canadians but resumed some operations in October. India had also ordered Canada to withdraw over 40 diplomatic staff from the country.
In February, Canada also accused India of trying to influence democratic processes in Canada. The Ministry of External Affairs responded by calling the allegations “baseless”.
On May 3, the Canadian Police arrested three men, Karanpreet Singh, Kamalpreet Singh and Karan Brar, from Edmonton, Alberta, on the suspicion of having murdered Nijjar. They were charged with first-degree murder and conspiracy. The police had said at the time that they were investigating connections between the accused persons and the Government of India.
On May 9, Canadian authorities made the fourth arrest in the case.
India’s External Affairs Minister, S Jaishankar said New Delhi was awaiting details about the arrests in the case. He also claimed that Canada has not provided any evidence of the Indian government’s involvement in Nijjar’s assassination, despite repeated requests. “It is their political compulsion in Canada to blame India,” Jaishankar said.
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