The diplomatic crisis between Canada and India has reached a new level of tension after the Canadian government identified the top Indian diplomat in the country as a key figure in the murder of a Sikh activist and, as a result, expelled him along with five other Indian diplomats on Monday.
Canada expels Indian high commissioner and other diplomats
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau reported that Canada has decided to expel the Indian high commissioner and other diplomats, all considered persons of interest. For her part, Canada’s Foreign Minister mentioned that the police had found evidence of an intensification of actions against Canadian citizens, allegedly carried out by agents of the Indian government.
“We will never tolerate the involvement of a foreign government that threatens and kills Canadian citizens on Canadian soil,” Trudeau declared, noting that diplomats were collecting information on Canadians to give to organized crime to attack them. He added that “India has made a monumental mistake.”
In response, India’s Foreign Ministry said it will expel Canada’s acting high commissioner and five other diplomats, who will have to leave the country before the weekend.
The diplomatic crisis between Canada and India worsens
Last year, Trudeau claimed there were “credible allegations” linking the Indian government to the murder of Sikh activist Hardeep Singh Nijjar in Canada. Given this, India not only denied the accusations, but called them absurd. Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly declared that the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) had gathered “ample, clear and concrete evidence identifying six people as persons of interest in the Nijjar case.”
Joly claimed that Canada asked India to waive diplomatic immunity for those involved and to cooperate in the investigation, but that India refused. In addition, he urged the Indian government to collaborate in the investigation “as it is in the interest of both countries to get to the bottom of this matter.” He also noted that the violence “has intensified” since the accusations made the previous year.
RCMP Commissioner Mike Duheme said police have evidence linking Indian officers to other homicides and violence in Canada. “The team has gathered a significant amount of information on the breadth and depth of criminal activities orchestrated by agents of the Indian government and the consequent threats to the security of Canadians and residents of Canada,” he said.
The murder of the Sikh activist in Canada
Duheme avoided giving details, due to the ongoing nature of the investigations, but mentioned that more than a dozen credible and imminent threats have been identified, prompting members of the South Asian community, particularly the movement, to warn. pro-Khalistan or Sikh independence. He added that attempts to dialogue with the Indian authorities were unsuccessful.
Nijjar, 45, was shot to death in his truck after leaving the Sikh temple he ran in Surrey, British Columbia. A Canadian citizen of Indian origin, he was the owner of a plumbing company and leader of a movement for the creation of an independent Sikh homeland.
India had designated Nijjar as a terrorist in 2020 and, at the time of his death, was seeking his arrest for his alleged involvement in an attack on a Hindu priest. Furthermore, the Modi government has repeatedly criticized the Trudeau government for its soft stance towards supporters of the Khalistan movement residing in Canada. The movement is banned in India, but has support in the Sikh diaspora, especially in Canada.
The Indian government’s response to the accusations
India has asked countries like Canada, Australia and the United Kingdom to take legal action against Sikh activists. These concerns have been raised particularly in Canada, where Sikhs make up about 2% of the population.
In response to Canada’s previous accusations, India last year requested the expulsion of 41 of the 62 Canadian diplomats in the country. Relations between both countries have remained tense since then. India’s foreign ministry said Monday that “India reserves the right to take further action in response to the Trudeau government’s support for extremism, violence and separatism against India.”
The ministry also summoned Canada’s top diplomat in New Delhi, stating that “baseless attacks” on the Indian high commissioner and other diplomats in Canada were “totally unacceptable.”
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