On the 39th anniversary of the deadly 1985 bombing of 'Kanishka' flight, which was alleged to be carried out by Sikh militants in retaliation to the 'Operation Bluestar', External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said on Sunday said the incident is of the "worst" acts of terrorism in history.
Jaishankar's comments recalling the bombing came amid strained ties of India and Canada over increasing activities of Khalistani extremists from Canadian soil.
On June 23, 1985, a Montreal-New Delhi Air India Flight 182 or the 'Kanishka' flight exploded 45 minutes before its scheduled landi ng at London's Heathrow Airport, killing all 329 people on board, most of them Canadians of Indian descent. The Air India flight was named after the Kushan dynasty emperor Kanishka.
'Operation Bluestar' was an India Army operation that was carried out in June 1984 to flush out militants including their leader Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale from the Golden Temple in Amritsar.
Jaishankar On 'Kanishka' Flight Bombing
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said on microblogging platform X on Sunday the anniversary of the bombing is a reminder why terrorism should never be tolerated. "Today marks the 39th anniversary of one of the worst acts of terrorism in history," Jaishankar said on 'X'.
"Pay my homage to the memory of the 329 victims of AI 182 'Kanishka' who were killed this day in 1985. My thoughts are with their families," he said.
"The anniversary is a reminder why terrorism should never be tolerated," he added.
Canada's Honour For Nijjar
Jaishankar's comments came two days after India strongly objected to Canadian parliament observing "one-minute silence" in memory of Khalistan extremist Hardeep Singh Nijjar, who was gunned down in British Columbia in June last year.
The Canadian parliament observed "one minute silence" to mark one year of the killing of Nijjar, who was declared a terrorist by India and was shot dead outside a gurdwara in British Columbia on June 18 last year.
India has been insisting that the Canadian authorities take action against those advocating violence amid relations between the two countries coming under severe strain following Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's allegations in September last year of a "potential" involvement of Indian agents in Nijjar's killing.
New Delhi rejected Trudeau's charges as "absurd".
