'Less of a diplomat and more of a hypocrite,' says alleged assassination target of expelled Indian high commissioner

Gurpatwant Singh Pannun — a dual Canada-United States citizen and the target of an alleged assassination attempt in New York City last year — says the expelled Indian High Commissioner to Canada, Sanjay Kumar Verma, is "less of a diplomat, and more of a hypocrite."

"What needs to be done is to decimate and dismantle the spy network, which they have built under Indian High Commissioner Sanjay Verma," Pannun told CTV News Channel's Power Play host Vassy Kapelos, in an interview airing Monday.

"These Vancouver and Toronto Indian consulates are the hub of the spy network," he added. "Until these two consulates are permanently closed, they will keep on assassinating and challenging Canadian sovereignty."

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Pannun was the target of a foiled alleged assassination attempt that's being investigated by the U.S. Department of Justice. American officials, as part of that case, recently partially unsealed an indictment in which they make links between the attempt on Pannun's life and the murder of Sikh separatist leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar in B.C. last summer.

Relations between Canada and India have been strained since shortly after Nijjar's killing, when Prime Minister Justin Trudeau rose in the House of Commons in September 2023 to say there were credible allegations that agents of the Indian government were involved the murder.

Last week, the RCMP accused agents of the Indian government of participating in criminal activity — including extortion and murder — targeting the South Asian community here in Canada.

Verma, the Indian high commissioner to Canada, declined to waive diplomatic immunity to be questioned by Canadian law enforcement. He and five other Indian diplomatic officials were then declared persona non grata and expelled.

In an exclusive interview on CTV's Question Period that aired Sunday, Verma denied any wrongdoing or involvement in Nijjar's murder, when asked directly by host Vassy Kapelos.

When asked about Verma's assertion that the Canadian government had not handed over "a shred of evidence" to the Indian government, Pannun accused the diplomat of giving "deceitful and deceptive responses."

He also said he's confident more evidence will come to light connecting his case and Nijjar's. Both are members of the Khalistan movement, which supports the establishment of an independent Sikh state in India, and elements of which the Indian government has long considered extremist.

"I'm not afraid of their threats, and I'm not going to stop campaigning for the global Khalistan referendum," Pannun said.

Members of Parliament are set to hold an emergency debate in the House of Commons Monday night on the accusations of Indian interference in Canadian affairs.

You can watch Pannun's full interview in the video player at the top of this article.