Canadian NSIA tried twice to speak to NSA Doval about Jaspal Atwal

JALANDAR: As

Canadian

National Security and Intelligence Committee of Parliamentarians has submitted its special report into the allegations associated with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s official visit to India in February 2018, all the six findings with respect to “foreign interference”, as was alleged by a top Canadian official during the visit, have been completely removed from the report.


Meanwhile, it has also come out that Canada’s national security and intelligence advisor (

NSIA

), who was accompanying the PM Trudeau, wrote at least two mails to India’s national security advisor Ajit Doval, against the backdrop of the huge controversy regarding Jaspal Atwal’s presence — who was convicted of the attempted murder of a Punjab minister as well as associated with Sikh extremism in Canada — at Trudeau’s event in Mumbai, but he did not get any response from the NIA.

“On February 21 at 22:51 NSIA sent an email to Indian national security advisor Doval thanking him for their meeting the previous week, noting that the prime minister had publicly stated Canada’s support for a united India, expressing pleasure that the minister of national defence was able to meet the Punjab chief minister, ***. The NSIA asked if Doval could ‘confirm that all conditions are well set for a productive meeting between our two PMs tomorrow,’ and gave telephone numbers where he could be reached. Doval did not respond,” the report mentions.

About another attempt by visiting NSIA, the report mentions, “On February 22 14:26, the NSIA sent an email to Doval seeking clarification of how Mr. Atwal and Mr. Randhawa *** while noting that neither individuals was part of Canada’s official delegation to India. The NSIA asked that the Doval call him. Doval did not respond.”

Soon after, the NSIA briefed journalists in Canada. During these briefings, in which he was referred to as a “senior government official”, it was suggested that the media release of information about Atwal was being orchestrated, potentially by factions of the Indian intelligence community. The first article which appeared on the same evening quoted him as saying that it “was no accident that Mr. Atwal was removed from the Indian black list,” and that “the intelligence service” might be motivated to embarrass the prime minister for being soft on Sikh separatism.

He briefed journalists in Canada on February 22 and then Canadian journalists accompanying the prime minister’s delegation in India on February 23.

“The Committee finds the most compelling rationale presented by the NSIA for his briefing to journalists was his desire to counter foreign interference in ‘real time.’… The NSIA had been deeply invested in addressing Indian security concerns about Canada and the Canadian government in order to ensure the success of the prime minister’s trip in February 2018. He was well aware of India’s ***. The “strategically released” media articles prior to the prime minister’s visit and Indian officials’ repeated raising of concerns around Sikh extremism and separatism, even after multiple efforts by Canadian officials, including the NSIA, to refute those claims, fit the pattern that the NSIA now saw emerging: an orchestrated attempt to ‘shine a spotlight’ on Mr. Atwal’s invitation in order to embarrass the Canadian Government,” the report notes.

There is no evidence to suggest that the NSIA briefed journalists at the explicit direction of the prime minister’s office, it adds.

RCMP was aware of Atwal’s past

“The RCMP had information that suggested that Atwal was going with the prime minister on the official trip to India, but did not validate that information. The RCMP had information that Atwal had a serious criminal record and a history of involvement in violent acts, issues which should have been identified as security risks to the prime minister and his delegation. The RCMP recognizes that it erred in not providing that information to the prime minister’s protective detail,” the report notes.

PM Trudeau had backed the senior official of his government who had said that Jaspal Atwal’s presence in India was arranged by the “factions within the Indian government” to undermine the Canadian PM’s tour to India. Trudeau had told the Canadian Parliament, a few days after he returned from India, that when one of the top diplomats or security officials tells something to the Canadian it’s because they know it to be true.