Patnaik was an Indian Foreign Service official in 1990 and is currently the Indian ambassador to Spain. He has previously represented India in Morocco and Cambodia, in addition to being the director of the Indian Cultural Relations Committee of New Delhi. Patnaik also worked in Dhaka and Beijing early in his career.
ET learned that Ottawa has been in touch with New Delhi.
At the same time, India’s demands on Sikh extremists are obvious. Last October, India withdrew the High Commissioner Sanjay Verma and some diplomats from Ottawa, rejecting allegations that they were “interested” in an investigation into the murder (Khalistani Oxpremist Hardeep Singh Nijjar).
Trudeau’s attitude is gentle
New Delhi described the allegations as “absurd blame” raised as part of the political agenda and told the Canadian government that “unfounded” by Indian diplomats and officials is unacceptable.
It also stressed that in an atmosphere of extremism and violence, the then Justin Trudeau administration’s actions endangered the safety of Canadian diplomats. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced: “We are not confident in the commitment of the Canadian current government to ensure its security. High Commissioner Verma accused Trudeau of undermining the political gains of the bilateral ties before leaving Ottawa. “Canada did not follow what it should have been there,” Verma said in an interview with Canadian private broadcast CTV. The evidence should be shared first, but someone (Trudeau) decided to stand in parliament and talk about evidence that he himself had no certainty. “I know, they go from one person to another, asking them about the rumors. Most of them are those who are pro-Kalistan elements, anti-Indian elements,” he said in the interview.
Verma also stressed Western hypocrisy, saying: “Gone are the days when the so-called developed countries will ask developing countries you have to do this, they will follow them and do it.”
Verma said he and his colleagues are monitoring Pro-Khalistan and Ant-India Elements in Canada without using any secret means.
