New Delhi: The Ministry of External Affairs called out Canada for not taking any action against criminals and anti-India elements, despite multiple requests for extradition and provisional arrest being sent by India over the last decade.

MEA spokesperson, Randhir Jaiswal said that there are total of 26 pending extradition requests pending with the Canadian side.

"So as far as my information is concerned, there are 26 extradition requests pending with the Canadian side. These are over the last decade or more. Along with it, there are several provisional arrest requests, which are also pending with the Canadian side of several criminals," MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said in a press conference on Thursday.

He further mentioned certain names that are among those individuals sought for extradition; Gurjeet Singh, Gurjinder Singh, Gurpreet Singh, Lakbir Singh Landa, and Arshdeep Singh Gill, who are wanted on terror charges and related crimes.

"We have shared security-related information with the Canadian government regarding gang members, including those of the Lawrence Bishnoi gang, and requested them to arrest them and or to take due action as per law. So far, while we have exchanged and given these information, so far no action has been taken by the Canadian side on our request. This is very serious," Jaiswal emphasised.

The MEA spokesperson also highlighted a contradiction in Canada's stance, where individuals India requested to be deported are now being blamed by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) for committing crimes in Canada, implying India's culpability.

"Also, I would like to say that we find it really strange that now the people who we asked to be deported, on whom we ask that action be taken, we are being told that they are the ones, or we are, RCMP is blaming. Indian side that these people are committing crimes in Canada for which you are to be blamed. So this is a contradiction in terms which we are to blame," Jaiswal stated.

The government's statement came a day after Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau named gangster Lawrence Bishnoi, who was earlier mentioned by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) for being involved in the murder of Nijjar in September last year.

Trudeau alleged that Indian diplomats were collecting information on Canadians and passing it to the Lawrence Bishnoi gang.

The Canadian PM, who testified before the country's foreign interference inquiry, claimed that the Canadian agencies tried to work behind the scenes with India before he went public with the allegations in the Nijjar killing.

However, Trudeau admitted that his government only provided "intelligence and no proof" to India over the killing of Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar on Canadian soil.

The diplomatic row between India and Canada underwent a fresh escalation when Canada labelled India's High Commissioner and other diplomats as "persons of interest" in the investigation of Nijjar's death.

Following this, India decided to call back its High Commissioner and five other diplomats from Canada.

Speaking on the fallout, Randhir Jaiswal said, "We had summoned the acting High Commissioner of Canada and thereafter conveyed that we had no faith that the Canadian govt will look after the safety of our diplomats and therefore we had taken a decision to withdraw our High Commissioner and along with him 5 other diplomats, after that, there was a communication from Canadian side asking them to leave but we had withdrawn our diplomats before their decision."

Nijjar, who was designated a terrorist by India's National Investigation Agency in 2020, was shot and killed outside a Gurdwara in Surrey in June last year.

This report is auto-generated from a syndicated feed