Former Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh criticized Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, accusing him of jeopardizing India-Canada relations in the pursuit of votes.

His comments come amid escalating tensions between the two countries.

India recently recalled its high commissioner and five other diplomats from Canada after they were labeled “persons of interest” in Canada’s investigation into the 2023 killing of Hardeep Singh Nijjar, a Canadian citizen and designated Khalistan terrorist, in British Columbia.

“Trudeau has damaged India-Canada relationship and only cares about securing Sikh votes for his own election,” the former CM said.

He further accused Trudeau of “promoting Khalistanis” and said such actions were “unacceptable”.

“He doesn’t care what is happening. He has done that in the past too. He is promoting Khalistanis. This is something that is not acceptable,” he said while talking to reporters in Khanna.

Remember Amarinder said he had refused to meet Trudeau during his visit to Punjab in 2018, but as per protocol I met him during his visit to the Golden Temple.

“I had submitted a list of terrorists hiding in Canada to Trudeau seeking their custody, but to no avail,” he said.

He said he also refused to meet then Canadian Defense Minister Harjit Sajjan during his tenure as Punjab CM, calling him a “Khalistani sympathizer”. “When I was in the government, the Canadian defense minister was visiting India. I had refused to meet him,” he says.

Relations between the two countries have sunk to their nadir due to Canada’s tacit support for Khalistani extremists among the large Sikh Canadian population of around eight lakh.

New Delhi accuses Ottawa of doing almost nothing to stop the activities of Khalistani supporters who seek to undermine India’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.