Gurpatwant Singh Pannun — a twin Canada-United States citizen and the goal of an alleged assassination try in New York Metropolis final yr — says the expelled Indian Excessive Commissioner to Canada, Sanjay Kumar Verma, is “much less of a diplomat, and extra of a hypocrite.”
“What must be carried out is to decimate and dismantle the spy community, which they’ve constructed underneath Indian Excessive Commissioner Sanjay Verma,” Pannun informed CTV Information Channel’s Energy Play host Vassy Kapelos, in an interview airing Monday.
“These Vancouver and Toronto Indian consulates are the hub of the spy community,” he added. “Till these two consulates are completely closed, they are going to carry on assassinating and difficult Canadian sovereignty.”
Pannun was the goal of a foiled alleged assassination try that is being investigated by the U.S. Division of Justice. American officers, as a part of that case, not too long ago partially unsealed an indictment through which they make hyperlinks between the try on Pannun’s life and the homicide of Sikh separatist chief Hardeep Singh Nijjar in B.C. final summer time.
Relations between Canada and India have been strained since shortly after Nijjar’s killing, when Prime Minister Justin Trudeau rose within the Home of Commons in September 2023 to say there have been credible allegations that brokers of the Indian authorities have been concerned the homicide.
Final week, the RCMP accused brokers of the Indian authorities of collaborating in prison exercise — together with extortion and homicide — concentrating on the South Asian group right here in Canada.
Verma, the Indian excessive commissioner to Canada, declined to waive diplomatic immunity to be questioned by Canadian regulation enforcement. He and 5 different Indian diplomatic officers have been then declared persona non grata and expelled.
In an unique interview on CTV’s Query Interval that aired Sunday, Verma denied any wrongdoing or involvement in Nijjar’s homicide, when requested immediately by host Vassy Kapelos.
When requested about Verma’s assertion that the Canadian authorities had not handed over “a shred of proof” to the Indian authorities, Pannun accused the diplomat of giving “deceitful and misleading responses.”
He additionally mentioned he is assured extra proof will come to gentle connecting his case and Nijjar’s. Each are members of the Khalistan motion, which helps the institution of an impartial Sikh state in India, and components of which the Indian authorities has lengthy thought-about extremist.
“I am not afraid of their threats, and I am not going to cease campaigning for the worldwide Khalistan referendum,” Pannun mentioned.
Members of Parliament are set to carry an emergency debate within the Home of Commons Monday evening on the accusations of Indian interference in Canadian affairs.
You may watch Pannun’s full interview within the video participant on the prime of this text.
