Canada’s deputy foreign minister David Morrison and another senior official Nathalie Drouin on Tuesday confirmed an information leak to The Washington Post implicating Union home minister Amit Shah's alleged involvement in violence against Sikh separatists on Canadian soil. Both Morrison and Drouin testified before Members of Parliament (MPs) of the Public Safety and National Security Committee.
As per reports, while answering Conservative public safety critic Raquel Dancho's question on why the information was shared with The Washington Post before making it available to the Canadian public, Morrison explained that he only confirmed Shah’s name when journalist mentioned it.
"The journalist called me and asked if it (Shah) was that person. I confirmed it was that person", Reuters quoted Morrison saying before the parliamentary panel on Tuesday .
While facing the parliamentary panel, Nathalie Drouin stated that no classified intelligence was shared with The Washington Post.
“We provided non-classified information on our actions and the evidence linking the Indian government to illegal activities targeting Canadians, including life-threatening threats,” Drouin testified.
Drouin further asserted that she and Morrison strategically took the decision to share the information in a bid to ensure that a major US media outlet reported on Canada’s stance amid the intensifying diplomatic row with India. She further mentioned that the strategy was closely monitored by the Prime Minister’s Office.
Earlier as well The Washington Post claimed that Canadian security agencies had evidence suggesting that “a senior official in India” had “authorized the intelligence-gathering missions and attacks on Sikh separatists” in Canada. The report also mentioned that a Canadian source identified Amit Shah as being the Indian official in question.
'Only intel, no Proof': Trudeau on Nijjar killing
On October 16, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who sat before the Commission of Inquiry over the ongoing investigation, admitted that Canada only had "only intelligence, not evidence" regarding India's involvement in the killing of pro-Khalistani leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar on Canadian soil.
"Canada asked India to cooperate. Their (India) ask was for proof. We asked for Indian security agencies to investigate further and cooperate with us. Because at that point what we (Canada) had was intelligence," Trudeau said.
"At that point, it was primarily intelligence and not hard evidentiary proof. So we said, let's work together and look into your security services and maybe we can get that out," he said while testifying before the country's Foreign Interference Commission.
India-Canada diplomatic feud
Accusing them of being a part of the Indian government's 'campaign of violence', the Trudeau-led Canadian government on October 14 expelled six Indian diplomats. In a befitting response, India also followed the same path and expelled six Canadian diplomats.
India had also summoned Canada's Charge d'Affaires Stewart Wheeler and said that the "baseless targeting" of the Indian High Commissioner and other diplomats and officials in Canada was completely unacceptable.
