Creating division in society will badly affect Canada as well: Indian High Commissioner designate on Khalistan issue

"Canada is a peaceful society. If a certain division is created in that peaceful environment then that will badly hit Canada as well. Every section of the society will be affected by that. Humanity should try to unite the nation. If we divide the society then it will not be good for our nation.  I will suggest people to work in uniting society rather than dividing it," he told IBNS.

"Both the governments and officials of India and Canada are discussing issues on a regular basis. The political discussions are continuously going on between India and Canada," Verma said.

The Khalistan Referendum is a voting in Canada for a separate homeland for Sikhs carved out of Punjab. Though it is a near non-existent Sikh separatist movement in India, a proscribed outfit Sikhs for Justice (SFJ) backed by India’s hostile neighbour Pakistan is keeping the issue alive abroad, especially in Canada with a large Sikh diaspora.

Verma categorically stated that there is no strength or thought process anywhere in this world which can divide India.

Verma said: "It is really sad that this particular community is fighting over here and creating division among their own country people from where they came from."

"India is a country of 1.3 billion plus which is strong enough to defend its sovereignty and the new India which the world has recognized very well has the power to mitigate this challenge," he said.

He said students coming to Canada are also getting involved with the 'Khalistani' movement.

"Movement is not only initiated by the Canadians of Indian origin from that particular community but also by the students who moved to Canada on student visa and got involved in this movement actively and even became part of street fights as the one which happened in Diwali. It is one of the biggest festivals celebrated by both communities," he said.

He said the focus should be put on positive stories which are happening in Canada.

"We give more importance to negative stories. We should aim to publicise only positive stories that are happening in Canada," he said.

The Indian government had served a demarche to the Canadian government and asked it to stop the so-called ‘Khalistan’ referendum organised by the proscribed organisation in Ontario on Nov 6.

Cameron MacKay, High Commissioner of Canada to India, earlier said the country “does not support and does not recognise” the so-called ‘Khalistan referendums’ being carried out frequently in that country by banned Sikh outfits and supports a “united India”

MacKay, who took charge as Canada’s envoy to India in March this year, told ThePrint that holding of such so-called referendums are considered to be a “private activity” in that country and according to Canadian laws “people have right to freedom of assembly, people have the right to freedom of expression”.

However, the High Commissioner also said that the Justin Trudeau government strongly believed in and stood for a “united India”.