Joining the chorus of protests against the Justin Trudeau administration’s decision to succumb to domestic political pressure to remove all references to Khalistani extremism in its 2018 report on terrorist threats, Punjab Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh on Sunday described the move as a threat to Indian and global security.

 Peeved, Capt Amarinder expressed shock at the ruling Canadian Liberal Party’s knee-jerk decision “clearly aimed at protecting its political interests in an election year’. He said that it could have “serious consequences for Indo-Canadian relations in the long run. Trudeau is playing with fire with his decision to assuage inflamed domestic passions through this ill-considered move”.

Capt Amarinder pointed out that he himself had given proof to the Canadian Prime Minister, during the latter’s India visit, of his country’s soil being used to spread the separatist Khalistani ideology against a friendly country. Trudeau had been informed of Khalistani activists being involved in financing terror activities in India from Canada, he said.

Pointing to the well-known fact that Trudeau’s party was inundated by such activists and separatists, the Chief Minister dubbed the erasure of various references to Khalistan and Khalistani organisations from the latest threat report as an unpardonable act in the eyes of the peace-loving global community.

“Such an act amounted to endorsement of the terror activities and de-facto promotion of extremism,” said Capt Amarinder, condemning outright the selective changes made by the Canadian government in its report on threats.

Only references with respect to Khalistan and related terms had been targeted by Trudeau administration, he noted, adding that it appeared to be a clear case of the Canadian government giving in to political compulsions.

Capt Amarinder warned the Canadian government against encouraging hardliners through such actions, which he said were detrimental to the interest of both India and Canada, as well as the global community.