Caretaker Prime Minister Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar claimed that Western countries had failed to recognize the “reality” of New Delhi’s right-wing government after Canada alleged India’s involvement in a murder.
Canada row wake-up call for India: Canada expelled an Indian envoy after determining that Indian spies were involved in the murder of Sikh separatist Hardeep Singh Nijjar in June close to Vancouver, setting off a tit-for-tat response.
The interim prime minister made a connection between the incident and the Hindutva, or Hindu nationalism, philosophy of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
As he participated in the UN General Assembly, Kakar said at the Council on Foreign Relations in New York, “These Hindutva ideologues are becoming emboldened in a manner that they are now going beyond the region.”
The “unfortunate killing of Mr. Singh on Canadian soil is a reflection of that ominous tendency,” he claimed.
But he said that “many players in the Western capitals chose to ignore this fact and reality for obvious economic and strategic reasons.”
With growing concerns about China, Western nations led by the United States have been pursuing India for years as a natural ally.
When he presided over the Group of 20 summit in New Delhi earlier this month, Modi highlighted India’s global significance.
Rights organisations accuse him of fostering a hostile environment for religious minorities, including as Muslims, Christians, and Sikhs, by promoting the identity of the Hindu majority.
Further, Nijjar, who India sought for alleged involvement in terrorism and a murder plot, advocated for the creation of Khalistan, a separate Sikh state.
India has long alleged that Pakistan, which was establish in 1947 when the subcontinent was divide into a separate Muslim country, supported the Khalistan movement, which waged an insurgency in the 1980s.