Sikh separatists crossing ‘big red line’, India warns Canada

Amidst the diplomatic strain in India-Canada relations, India’s envoy here has warned that the Sikh separatist groups in Canada were crossing “a big red line” that New Delhi sees as a matter of national security and territorial integrity.

Indian High Commissioner to Canada Sanjay Kumar Verma said this on Tuesday in his first public remarks since three Indian nationals accused of killing Khalistan separatist Hardeep Singh Nijjar last year were arrested and produced before a court by Canadian police.

Verma seemed to link the case to domestic crime, CTV News reported.

He also warned that Sikh groups in Canada who call for the separation of their homeland from India are crossing “a big red line.”

“Indians will decide the fate of India, not the foreigners,” Verma told think-tank Montreal Council on Foreign Relations.

He also told the Council that relations between India and Canada are positive overall despite “a lot of noise”.

Verma said the two countries are “trying to resolve this issue.We are ready to sit down at the table any day... we are doing that,” he said.

Verma said the deeper problems underneath the recent “negative” developments have to do with Canada’s misunderstanding of “decades-old issues,” which he blames Canadians of Indian origin for resurfacing.