India-Canada Row: Amid the strained ties with Canada, India on Thursday revealed that there are 26 extradition requests pending with the north american country since over a decade. The requests include those of some hardcore Khalistani extremists and criminals wanted by India.
During a weekly briefing on Thursday, Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said that besides these requests, there are several provisional arrest requests which are also pending with the Canadian side of several criminals.
“There are 26 extradition requests pending with the Canadian side. These are over the last decade or more. Along with it, there are several provisional arrest requests which are also pending with the Canadian side of several criminals. Some of the notable ones, who have been charged with terror and related crimes, are Gurjeet Singh, Gurjinder Singh, Gurpreet Singh, Lakhbir Singh Landa and Arshdeep Singh Gill. We have shared the security-related information with the Canadian government,” he said.
It is pertinent to mention that the extradition requests pending with Canada include those of Lawrence Bishnoi gang, with the Indian government requesting the Justin Trudeau government to arrest them or take due action against them as per the law.
“We had shared some requests with the Canadian side for the arrest of those from Lawrence Bishnoi’s gang. They haven’t taken any action on our core concerns. There is a political motive also behind this,” Jaiswal said.
“So far no action has been taken by the Canadian side on our requests. This is very serious. Also we find it very strange that the people we asked to be deported, on whom we asked action to be taken, we are being told – the RCMP (Royal Canadian Mounted Police) is blaming the Indian side – that these people are committing crimes in Canada for which India is to be blamed. So, this is a contradiction which we don’t understand,” the MEA spokesperson further stated.
In what has been one of the lowest points in relations between the two countries, New Delhi on Monday decided to withdraw its High Commissioner and “other targeted diplomats and officials” from Canada following Trudeau’s continued “hostility” towards India.
The MEA had stated earlier this week that India has conveyed to Canada that it reserves the right to take further steps in response to the Trudeau Government’s support for extremism, violence and separatism against India.
“India-Canada economic ties are robust and strong. We have a large diaspora in Canada. Our students form the largest cohort of international students in the country. Several large Canadian pension funds have invested in India and Canada remains the major beneficiary of these linkages and ties. The current crisis in the relationship has been precipitated by the Trudeau government’s baseless allegations,” asserted the MEA spokesperson on Thursday.