New Delhi: Nearly two weeks after Canada’s House of Commons held a moment of silent to mark the one-year anniversary of Hardeep Singh Nijjar’s killing, the Indian parliament marked one minute of mourning for the victims of Air India 182 that was bombed by Khalistani groups.
In both houses of parliament, the chairs led the commemoration of the bombing of Air India 182 which killed 329 people, mostly Canadian nationals, on June 23, 1985. Vice-President Jagdeep Dhankhar said in Rajya Sabha that it was “one of the darkest days in the fight against terrorism”.
“Two Air India aircraft flying out of Canada were targeted by terrorists [and] 329 innocent people lost their lives when Air India [flight] 182 Kanishka was blown up off Ireland on June 23, 1985,” he said.
Posting the videos of the commemoration on X, the Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal wrote that “justice was never fully served to the victims and their families”.
Earlier on June 18, the Canadian House of Commons held a moment of silence to mark the anniversary of Nijjar’s killing outside a Gurudwara in British Columbia. Nijjar had been officially proscribed by the Indian government as a Khalistani terrorist.
Last September, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau accused Indian government agents of involvement in the shooting of Nijjar, an allegation that India vehemently rejected, leading to a downturn in bilateral relations.
India objected to the Canadian parliament’s mourning, emphasising that the main issue was the political space afforded to extremists within Canada’s political system.
The deterioration in ties was evident when External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar did not send any greetings on his official X handle for Canada Day on July 1, despite routinely doing so to his other counterparts on their national days.
The Indian high commission in Canada posted on X that India-Canadian ties should “soar to new heights”.
