NEW DELHI: Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has condemned a “deliberate attack” on a Hindu temple in Canada and criticized “cowardly attempts to intimidate our diplomats”, in his first comments on a diplomatic showdown with Canada.

Modi, who has developed a strong outreach network, particularly among the Hindu diaspora, also called on the Canadian government to “ensure justice and uphold the rule of law.”

“Such acts of violence never weaken India’s resolve,” he wrote in a November 4 post on the social media platform X.

He was reacting to the violence that occurred on November 3 at the Hindu temple Mahasabha Mandir in Brampton, in the Canadian province of Ontario. Videos, verified by Canadian media, showed Sikh separatists, brandishing Khalistan flags, confronting Hindu worshipers.

Sikh activists seek to create a separate state of Khalistan, carved out of the Indian state of Punjab.

Modi’s remarks come days after Ottawa accused his close aide, Interior Minister Amit Shah, of planning a campaign of violence and gathering intelligence against Sikh separatists in Canada.

Ties between India and Canada are in a steady downward spiral amid allegations of Indian involvement in the assassination of Sikh separatist Hardeep Singh Nijjar in June 2023, with Shah’s appointment seen as a tipping point, they said. noted Indian analysts.

India filed a diplomatic protest on Nov. 1 and called Canada’s allegations against Shah, India’s second-most powerful politician after Modi, “absurd and baseless.”

Shah was named by Canadian Deputy Foreign Minister David Morrison at a House of Commons committee on national security on October 29. Morrison also admitted to confirming this information as a source to the Washington Post newspaper.

Analysts said it had become untenable for Modi to remain silent.

“I think India has been very measured in its approach so far, with the Prime Minister not engaging at all on this issue. But I think this has become unsustainable after the name of the Interior Minister was brought up by Canadians and that too at the highest level of the Canadian government,” said Professor Harsh V. Pant, Vice President, Academic and Foreign Policy from Observer Research. Foundation, a think tank in New Delhi.

“I think from India’s perspective this is a deliberate escalation by the Canadian government. The Prime Minister therefore had to intervene given the circumstances. But if you see the tone (of the statement), it is quite measured compared to what Trudeau has been saying for over a year.”

This is the first time Modi has spoken since Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau made explosive accusations about the Indian government’s involvement in Nijjar’s assassination.

The Canadian government has since gone on to accuse the Indian envoy to Canada, Sanjay Verma, who has since returned to India, other diplomats and the Indian spy agency of collecting information that was then passed on to criminal gangs to target Sikh separatists in Canada.

India has denied all these allegations and said Canada has not provided any evidence.

There have been three rounds of evictions over the past year.

India, which views Sikh separatism as a national security risk, has long urged Canada to rein in Khalistan separatists. Canada, for its part, has refused to restrict separatists’ speeches and demonstrations, saying this falls under freedom of expression.

On November 5, Indian Foreign Minister S. Jaishankar called the surveillance of Indian diplomats in Canada “unacceptable.”

As India faces similar allegations in the United States over a failed assassination plot against Sikh separatist Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, there has been largely unequivocal criticism in India of the government’s very public accusations canadian.

Neelam Deo, retired ambassador and co-founder of Gateway House: Indian Council on Global Relations, said it was good that Modi was speaking out.

“It’s good that the Prime Minister came out and tweeted forcefully, as any head of government should, on an issue that concerns the people of this country. The Indians are very concerned about what is happening.

She added: “There is an age-old way of dealing with these issues. It appears that the Canadians started everything on the wrong foot and made it difficult for the Indian government to respond otherwise.

“How do you respond to the (Canadian) Prime Minister making an allegation in his own Parliament instead of dealing with the issue bilaterally (with India). »

Others in India believe that de-escalation of the crisis depended on Canada in a context of frozen relations.

“The Trudeau government needs to step back and resolve the issue calmly,” said Anil Wadhwa, a former ambassador and now a distinguished fellow at the Vivekananda International Foundation, a Delhi-based think tank.

“There are huge stakes (for) both parties. Indian nationals and students on the Indian side and Canadian investments in India.

Yet Canadian politicians and leaders have not hesitated to condemn the violence at the temple.

Trudeau said “every Canadian has the right to practice their faith freely and safely,” while opposition leader and Conservative Pierre Poilievre pledged to “unite our people and end the chaos” before the 2025 Canadian elections.

Professor Reeta C. Tremblay, professor emeritus in the department of political science at the University of Victoria in Canada, noted: “However, this response is not going to satisfy the Modi government’s complaints that its diplomats are not safe in Canada and that Canada bends to the Khalistani community.

Professor Tremblay noted that members of the Hindu community have complained about the desecration of Hindu temples and that a Canadian Liberal MP, Chandra Arya, had accused Khalistani activists of targeting Hindu temples.

She added: “Unfortunately, this temple violence has the potential to create division between the Canadian Hindu and Sikh diasporas who coexist peacefully.

“Canada must not only recalibrate its diplomatic relations with India, but also the relations between its Hindu and Sikh diasporic communities. » -The time of the straits/ANN