Patna (Bihar) [India], July 18 : Former Indian High Commissioner to Canada Sanjay Kumar Verma on Friday said the ongoing crackdown on organised crime networks will have a direct positive impact on the Indian community in Canada, while calling the earlier diplomatic crisis "motivated by political perspective."
In an interview with ANI, Verma said most people of Indian origin in Canada are Canadian citizens, with some holding Indian citizenship, and they bore the brunt of extortion, trafficking and drug-related crimes linked to Khalistani elements.
"Absolutely, they will," Verma said when asked if the community would feel the impact.
"Money was extorted from them by going to their homes and threatening them. So, if that extortion decreases in any way, it will certainly affect them, their lives, and their families, because this fear was spread across the entire family," he said.
The former envoy highlighted human trafficking and drug peddling as other areas where the community was affected. He also cited the recent indictment of an individual named Dhanda in Vancouver as an example.
"As far as human trafficking is concerned, most were people of Indian origin whom Khalistanis used to traffic between Canada and the US. There will be a decrease in that, which will have an impact. The drug peddling they used to do, Khalistanis still do it, and one was even caught in Vancouver, named Dhanda, mentioned in this indictment/charge sheet. As soon as this kind of smuggling and peddling of drugs decreases, it will benefit the youth from the Indian community whom they had involved in this dirty activity; they will move back toward society. So, you can look at any activity; every single one will have an impact on the people of Indian origin living there," he said.
Verma added that the impact would not be limited to the Indian diaspora. "It will definitely affect Canada because they didn't just threaten people of Indian origin; they threatened others too. They didn't just commit violence against people of Indian origin; they did it against others as well. So, in a way, this is a good thing for all of Canada; peace will come to society there, and crime will decrease. We want a crime-free Canada."
When asked why a major diplomatic crisis was triggered despite no public evidence, Verma said he could not speak to the motives of the then Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
"But we believe, and at that time we said this officially, and the Indian government was also saying this, that it was a step motivated by his political perspective," he stated.
Verma dismissed the allegations against India as "nonsense," reiterating that India's foreign policy has never been to interfere in the internal affairs of other nations.
"India's foreign policy, India's overall policy, has never been to interfere in the internal affairs of other nations. And India was firm on this that day, is firm today, and will remain firm in the future," he said.
Speaking as "a responsible citizen of India," Verma invoked India's cultural ethos. "India's culture is thousands and thousands of years old, and this culture teaches us, Sanatan teaches us, not to give pain and suffering to others. India has brought this into its foreign policy. And in its foreign policy, it has always stated very clearly that India has no intention of interfering in the internal affairs of other states, nations, or countries."
He concluded that strengthening India-Canada friendship requires continued action against crime. "Canada is a very good friend of ours; the people of Canada are very good friends of Indians. So, to continuously move this friendship forward, such action is necessary."
The remarks come after the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said it had taken note of announcements by the US Department of Justice regarding indictments and enforcement action against transnational organised crime networks.
MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal on July 14 said that India has consistently maintained that transnational organised crime, terrorism, narco trafficking, human trafficking and illegal firearms trafficking pose a serious threat to societies.
The US Justice Department recently charged gangsters Lawrence Bishnoi and Goldy Brar with allegedly ordering Nijjar's assassination in Surrey, British Columbia, in June 2023, while also announcing charges against 37 defendants linked to transnational organised crime networks as part of "Operation Hard Ball."