Trudeau Aide and MP Sukh Dhaliwal Spotted at Surrey Gurdwara at the Centre of India-Canada Tensions – News18

A day after evading News18’s questions about the alleged protection to Khalistani terror groups on Canadian soil, Sukhminder aka Sukh Singh Dhaliwal, Liberal Party MP and close aide of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, was seen at the Surrey gurdwara which is at the centre of the diplomatic tensions between India and Canada.

Khalistani separatist Hardeep Singh Nijjar was the president of the gurdwara until he was shot dead outside the Sikh temple on June 18. Trudeau’s explosive allegations of the “potential” involvement of Indian agents in the killing of Nijjar, whom India had designated as a terrorist in 2020, pulled down bilateral ties to their lowest last month.

India has strongly rejected the allegations as “absurd” and “motivated” and expelled a senior Canadian diplomat in a tit-for-tat move to Ottawa’s expulsion of an Indian official over the case.

Sources told News18 that Dhaliwal had visited the gurdwara to seek the support of Sikhs who had arrived for a pro-Khalistani rally on Sunday from other parts of Canada and North America.

Speaking to News18 on Monday, Dhaliwal, who had earlier mentioned that India and Canada share “good ties”, said Trudeau had “credible information and evidence” when he accused India in Parliament last month.

“The law enforcement agencies have enough evidence that made Trudeau make that statement. I can certainly say that PM Trudeau is very credible when he makes a statement. He does not do so without any evidence. I am happy someone can speak for Canada,” Dhaliwal said.

The Canadian government has so far not provided any evidence after it accused India of being involved in Nijjar’s killing despite New Delhi’s insistence.

When asked if there was any FIR or a suspect list from the Canadian police in the matter, Dhaliwal said only “time will tell”. “At this point, I can say that the PM was given the information, and he spoke. This is real leadership. The justice system in Canada is very fair. There is credible information that has made PM Trudeau say this”.

Dhaliwal has confirmed meeting Nijjar in 2019 at a time when a red corner notice (RCN) was issued against him. Dhaliwal was evasive on whether he as an MP alerted the government authorities about Nijjar when he was declared a terrorist by India in 2020.

Dhaliwal was also at a loss to explain Nijjar’s proximity with the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) as claimed by Nijjar’s son. He also was evasive on the inference whether the Canadian authorities were actively shielding a ‘wanted’ man.

There are in fact allegations that the Canadian government was protecting Nijjar and allowing him to run his operations that included networking, training, financing and operationalising his Khalistan Terror Force (KTF) terror module.

“I am not here to defend Nijjar but Canada. This issue is about assassination. That is bothersome,” Dhaliwal said.