Pakistan, the historic rival of India, said on Thursday that Western countries had failed to see the “reality” of Indian right-wing leadership after Canada alleged the involvement of New Delhi in the killing of Hardeep Singh Nijjar.
Canada expelled an Indian diplomat, provoking a tit-for-tat response, after concluding that in June Indian agents played a role in the slaying near Vancouver of a Sikh separatist, Hardeep Singh Nijjar.
Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar, the caretaker prime minister of Pakistan, as the nation heads to elections, connected the episode to the ideology of Narendra Modi, the Prime Minister of India, of Hindu nationalism, or Hindutva.
In the UN General Assembly, Kakar said that these ideologues of Hindutva, are becoming emboldened in a manner that they are now going beyond the region. The “tragic killing of Mr. Singh on Canadian soil is a reflection of that ominous tendency, he added.
Many players in the Western capitals chose to ignore this fact and reality because of obvious economic and strategic reasons, Kakar added.
Western allies led by the United States have been courting India for years, noticing natural support in the billion-plus democracy as concerns were raised about China.
Earlier this month, Modi showcased India’s international part as he led the Group of 20 summit in New Delhi.
He has promoted the identity of the Hindu majority in the nation, with rights groups blaming him for forming a harmful atmosphere for religious minorities, who include Muslims, Christians, and Sikhs.
India has long claimed that Pakistan — formed on the subcontinent’s partition in 1947 as a separate Muslim homeland — has delivered support to the Khalistan movement, which took out a rebellion in the 1980s.
