Former Punjab chief minister Capt Amarinder Singh criticised Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, accusing him of jeopardising India-Canada relations in pursuit of garnering votes.

His remarks come amid escalating tensions between the two countries.

India recently recalled its high commissioner and five other diplomats from Canada after they were labelled as ‘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 the India-Canada relationship, caring only 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 does not care what happens. He has done this earlier also. He is promoting Khalistanis. This is something that is not acceptable,” he said while talking to reporters in Khanna.

Recalling Amarinder said he had refused to meet Trudeau during his 2018 visit to Punjab, but following protocol, I met him during his visit to the Golden Temple.

“I had handed over 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 the then-Canadian defence minister Harjit Sajjan during his tenure as Punjab CM and called him a “Khalistani sympathiser”. “When I was in the government, the Canadian defence minister was on a visit to India. I had refused to meet him,” he said.

The relations between the two countries have plunged to their lowest level over Canada’s tacit support to Khalistani extremists among the large Sikh-Canadian population of about eight lakh.

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