Sri Lankan foreign minister's 'safe haven for terrorists’ jibe at Canada, backs India

Sri Lankan foreign minister Ali Sabry, reacting to India-Canada diplomatic row, has claimed terrorists have found safe haven in the North American country and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has this way of coming out with outrageous allegations.

Backing India over the matter, Sabry told news agency ANI, “Some of the terrorists have found safe haven in Canada. The Canadian PM has this way of just coming out with some outrageous allegations without any supporting proof. The same thing they did for Sri Lanka, a terrible, total lie about saying that Sri Lanka had a genocide. Everybody knows there was no genocide in our country.”

The Sri Lankan minister added, “The ministry of global affairs has very clearly said that Sri Lanka did not go through a genocide, whereas PM Trudeau as a politician stands up and says that genocide had taken place. That itself is contradictory to each other. That doesn't help."

Earlier, outgoing Sri Lankan high commissioner to India Milinda Moragoda claimed that the people of Sri Lanka have suffered due to terrorism and that his country has zero tolerance for terrorism.

On being asked about Canada's allegations against India, he said, "I think India's response has been inequitable and also firm and direct. And I think as far as we are concerned, we support India on that. Having said that, also, in my lifetime now, I'm 60 years old, 40 years of my life, we have spent facing various forms of terrorism in Sri Lanka. I have lost many friends, and colleagues to terrorism.

"We have all mean many Sri Lankans have died to terrorism. So, therefore, our position on these matters, I think is very clear because we have endured and we have suffered. And as a country that has gone through that tolerance for terrorism is zero tolerance," he added.

Ties between India and Canada have been strained after Trudeau on September 18 alleged India’s involvement in the fatal shooting of Khalistan Tiger Force chief Hardeep Singh Nijjar in Canada.

Nijjar, who was a designated terrorist in India, was killed outside a Gurdwara in Canada's Surrey on June 18. India, however, rejected the allegations, terming them "absurd" and "motivated".

“We have seen and rejected the statement of the Canadian Prime Minister in their Parliament, as also the statement by their Foreign Minister," the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said in a statement.

India also expelled a senior Canadian diplomat in a reciprocal move to Canada expelling a senior Indian diplomat in light of the claim of New Delhi's involvement in the killing of Nijjar.

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