Loud pro-Khalistan chants echoed during an event in Canada's Toronto on Sunday as Prime Minister Justin Trudeau walked up the dias to address the Canadian Sikh community during the Khalsa Day parade.
This comes at a time when diplomatic relations between India and Canada are already going through a rough patch sparked by the killing of Khalistani leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar last year.
Nijjar was shot dead outside a gurdwara in Surrey, British Columbia on June 18, 2023. Trudeau had accused involvement of "agents of the Government of India" in Nijjar's killing putting the diplomatic relations between the two countries off the track.
Speaking at the event Trudeau vowed that his government will always be there to "protect" the rights and freedom of the Sikh community in the country.
“To the nearly 800,000 Canadian of Sikh heritage, we will always be there to protect your rights and freedoms and we will always defend your community against hatred and discrimination," said the Canadian PM.
Noting that diversity is Canada's strength, Trudeau said that the country is strong because of differences.
"One of Canada's greatest strengths is its diversity. We are strong not in spite of our differences, but because of our differences; but even as we look at these differences, we have to remember, and get reminded on days such as this, and every day, that Sikh values are Canadian values," he said.
"Your right to practice your religion freely, and without intimidation is exactly that. A fundamental right guaranteed in the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms that we will always stand up and defend you for," he added.
Trudeau also said that the governments of Canada and India have negotiated a new agreement to add more flights and more routes between the two countries "and we will keep working with our counterparts to add even more flights, including to Amritsar.”