The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) on Thursday said that India had sought extradition of the gang members of Lawrence Bishnoi's gang from Canada. However, Canada didn't take any action on India's concerns.
MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal informed of Canada's reluctance to extradite members associated with the Lawrence Bishnoi gang.
"We had shared some requests with the Canadian side for the arrest of those from Lawrence Bishnoi’s gang. They haven’t taken any action on our core concerns. There is a political motive also behind this," Randhir Jaiswal said during the weekly briefing.
Jaiswal said that around 26 extradition requests were shared with the Canadian government over a decade, as well requests for the arrest of some individuals with terror charges, while also raising security-related concerns.
The MEA had given the names of Gurjit Singh, Gurjinder Singh, Arshdeep Singh Gill, Lakhbir Singh Landa, Gurpreet Singh for extradition, saying that the members of the Bishnoi gang were among them.
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) had alleged that the Bishnoi gang is 'connected' to the agents of the Indian government, which is targeting "pro-Khalistani elements" in the country.
Speaking on the ongoing diplomatic row between India and Canada, Jaiswal said, "We have made our position very clear on this matter, several press releases have been issued in the last two days putting out our position which is very clear that since September 2023, the Canadian government has not shared any shred of information with us. Yesterday again, after the public hearing, we had issued a statement saying that Canada has levelled serious allegations but has so far not given any evidence to back it up. I would allude to the statement made by the State Department; we would say that as far as the allegations are concerned, PM Trudeau's own admission yesterday would indicate the value as regards our stance on the allegations. We will naturally reject false imputations against our diplomats."