by Enrico Oliari –
Last June, a plumber of Indian origin, who was also the leader of a Sikh temple, was killed in Surrey, Canada. His name was Hardeep Singh Nijjar, but in India he was considered the leader of a political group classified as terrorist, as well as involved in the fight for the independence of Punjab.
Two hooded men killed him, but after a month of investigation the involvement in the murder of a senior Indian diplomat, Pavan Kumar Rai, was established.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau indicated the one provided by the investigators as a “credible lead”, and stated before Parliament that “Any involvement of a foreign country in the murder of a Canadian citizen corresponds to a violation of our sovereignty”.
Trudeau also said he had made his grievances known directly to his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi at the G20.
Shortly thereafter, the Canadian Foreign Minister, Melanie Joly, expelled the Indian diplomat, but protests arose from New Delhi along with the accusation that “Canada is the one giving hospitality to extremists and terrorists”.
The diplomatic tension is giving the final blow to the draft free trade agreement between India and Canada, which has already been stopped due to a series of other issues of a mostly commercial nature.
