Trudeau and Indian envoy Verma.

NEW DELHI: Outgoing Indian High Commissioner to Canada Sanjay Verma termed the allegations against him as “politically motivated” and accused Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau of destroying political ties between India and Canada.
He said Canada acted on information, not evidence, adding that Ottawa was only encouraging Khalistan extremistswho worked for Canadian secret services. Canada claimed last week that it had deported Verma for her alleged involvement in criminal activity.
Trudeau himself admitted there is no evidence: ex-envoy
While Canada last week claimed it had expelled Sanjay Verma and five other Indian diplomats for alleged involvement in criminal activities, India had said it had recalled Verma and others. In a retaliatory move, India also expelled six Canadian diplomats. “He (Justin Trudeau) himself admitted there was no evidence. If you want to destroy a relationship because of your intelligence, be my guest. And he did that,” Verma said in an interview with Canadian broadcaster CTV on Sunday before his departure for India. Asked about extrajudicial killings, Verma said that India has never done it, but some G7 countries have, and that there should be no “double standards” in this regard. Asked if he had anything to do with Nijjar’s murder, Verma said: “Nothing at all. No evidence was presented. It’s politically motivated.”
Verma said Canada did not follow standard practice of sharing evidence first. “Evidence should have been presented first, but someone (Trudeau) decided to stand in Parliament and speak about a matter for which he himself said there was no clear evidence,” he said, adding that Canada had nothing undertaken to address India’s demands for the extradition of 26 people involved in terror activities.
“From the day he did that, he has since ensured that bilateral relations with India have only deteriorated further into a downward spiral,” he added. According to Verma, the evidence Canada claims to have is based on hearsay. “I know for a fact that they go from one person to another and ask them about hearsay. Most of them are pro-Khalistan elements, anti-India elements,” he said.
The Canadian authorities wanted to question Verma and had asked India to consider waiving her request diplomatic immunity. “When I am interrogated, I need to see the evidence and know what I am being interrogated for,” Verma said. When asked why Canadian judicial authorities were not allowed to meet their colleagues and present the evidence they had, he clarified that they had not followed the “correct procedure” and had applied for visas too late. “They were planning to leave for India on October 8, but they submitted their completed application form only on the same day,” he said, adding that the officials also did not mention the agenda of their visit.
Asked whether the Indian government has ever been involved in targeting specific people with the ultimate aim of killing them, Verma said. “Never.” He accused Canadian Foreign Minister Melanie Joly of talking “politically” and said she had “nothing in her hand.” According to CTV, Verma also specifically said he condemned Nijjar’s murder. “All murder is wrong and bad. I condemn it. Let’s get to the bottom of this,” he said, strongly denying allegations that he and other Indian diplomats collected information that targeted Canadian nationals.
“As High Commissioner of India, I have never done anything like this. That’s one thing,” Verma said. “Secondly, my colleagues, do we want to know what pro-Khalistani elements are doing in Canada? Yes, we do. This is my national interest.” Referring to extrajudicial killings, Verma said India, being the largest democracy, will never do this but accused some G7 countries of doing so without naming them.