Following a controversy over Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau backing the agitating farmers, senior Congress leader Jairam Ramesh on Friday said India should be prepared for comments from abroad after Prime Minister Narendra Modi endorsed Donald Trump’s second term as US President. “Was not Mr Modi’s explicit and unprecedented endorsement of Trump on 22 September 2019 in Houston an interference in the internal politics of USA? So be prepared for comments from abroad, however unwelcome, on your own actions…,” he said on Twitter. Trudeau had said Canada will always defend the rights of peaceful protests, and had expressed concern over the situation in India.
India, meanwhile, summoned Canadian High Commissioner Nadir Patel on Friday and told him that the comments made by Trudeau and others in his cabinet on the farmers’ protest constituted an “unacceptable interference” in the country’s internal affairs. The Ministry of External Affairs said these actions, if continued, will have a “seriously damaging” impact on the bilateral ties.
“The Canadian High Commissioner was summoned to the Ministry of External Affairs today and informed that comments by the Canadian Prime Minister, some Cabinet Ministers and members of Parliament on issues relating to Indian farmers constitute an unacceptable interference in our internal affairs,” the MEA said, adding, a demarche was made to the envoy. “Such actions, if continued, would have a seriously damaging impact on ties between India and Canada,” the ministry asserted.
The MEA said these comments by Canadian leaders have encouraged “gatherings of extremist activities” in front of the Indian High Commission and Consulates in Canada, raising issues of safety and security. “We expect the Canadian government to ensure the fullest security of Indian diplomatic personnel and its political leaders to refrain from pronouncements that legitimize extremist activism,” the MEA said.
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