Wellington: While pointing out that the Khalistan issue has caused significant “suffering” in India, New Zealand prime minister Christopher Luxon stated his government will not tolerate criminal behaviour.
While New Zealand values free speech, any intimidation or violence would be dealt with strictly under the law, he told CNN-News18 ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to the country.
When asked if the Khalistan issue would affect the ties between the two nations, he responded: “No, I don’t think so,” adding, “I mean, firstly, what I acknowl
edge is on the Khalistan issue, you know, that has caused a huge amount of pain and suffering and a tremendous loss of lives and livelihoods within India, and we’re well aware of that. You know, we are also a country that, you know, has very clear rules that, yes, while we’re a liberal democracy, we expect freedom of expression and free speech. We expect people to be compliant with our rules.”
“And any threats of intimidation or violence is utterly unacceptable, and our police are alert to those issues, and manage those well,” he remarked.
When asked if New Zealand would permit a Khalistan referendum, Luxon said the matter was “hypothetical” and any decision would depend on police assessments of potential risks.
“Well, it’s all quite hypothetical. It would depend on, you know, what our police are assessing as the risk or the threat that’s sitting there. But again, as I said to you, we have pretty clear rights and responsibilities in this country… You don’t just have a right without taking the responsibility as well. We would expect people to be compliant with that as well,” he said, adding that demonstrations held in 2024 had remained within the law and were closely monitored by police.