Relations between Canada and India further deteriorated on Monday when both countries expelled six diplomats from the other side in “retaliation.”
diplomatic feud concerns assassination June 2023, speech by Sikh separatist leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar.
Nijjar, who emigrated from India in 1997 and became a Canadian citizen in 2015, was shot to death in the parking lot of a Sikh temple near Vancouver. In May 2024, four Indian nationals were arrested in connection with his murder.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in public accused The Indian government claimed to have assassinated Nijjar on Canadian soil in September 2023. India rejected these allegations as “absurd”.
This suspicion sparked a major diplomatic dispute between the two countries, which continues to this day. Canada and India respectively exiled A senior diplomat immediately after Prime Minister Trudeau's accusations.
On Monday, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) accused Six Indian diplomats are suspected of involvement in serious criminal activities, including the murder of Mr. Singh and espionage.
“The investigation revealed that Indian diplomats and consular officials based in Canada used their official positions to engage in covert activities, including intelligence gathering for the Indian government, either directly or through agents.” said RCMP Commissioner Mike Duhem.
“There is also evidence that various organizations within and outside Canada are being used by Indian government officials to gather intelligence. Some of these individuals and companies are coerced into working for the Indian government, and Some people have been threatened,” he added.
“Information collected on behalf of the Indian government is then used to target members of the South Asian community,” Duhem said.
The RCMP said it has presented evidence of the allegations to the Indian government and asked it to waive diplomatic immunity for the accused officials. When India refused, Canada ordered the six people to be deported.
India responded by saying it would “recall” the highest-ranking diplomat accused, Sanjay Kumar Verma, the High Commissioner to Canada, and other “targeted diplomats and officials.” India subsequently expelled six Canadian diplomats in retaliation.
Canadian officials said the RCMP had identified Verma as a “person of interest” in the Niger assassination.
“We will never tolerate foreign governments' involvement in threatening and killing Canadians on Canadian soil. This is an extremely unacceptable violation of Canadian sovereignty and international law,” Trudeau said in announcing the expulsions. Ta.
“Canada fully respects India's sovereignty and territorial integrity. We expect the Indian government to treat Canada in the same way,” Trudeau said.
India's Ministry of External Affairs responded, “The Government of India strongly rejects these absurd allegations and considers them to be driven by the Trudeau government's political objectives centered around vote bank politics.”
“India reserves the right to take further action in response to the Trudeau government's support for extremism, violence and separatism against India,” the Indian statement said.
The ministry said Canada has not provided “a shred of evidence” for its claims and accused Trudeau of engaging in a “deliberate strategy to smear India for political gain.”
Jagmeet Singh, leader of Canada's left-wing New Democratic Party (NDP) and himself a Sikh, said Canada's Sikh community is “subjected to fear, intimidation, harassment and violence, all of which have an Islamic “These include extortion, violence, and election interference allegedly carried out by religious groups.” Indian officials. ”
“To protect Canadians and our country, I urge all leaders to obtain security clearance, hold the Modi government accountable, and not turn a blind eye.” he said.
Opposition Conservative Party Leader Pierre Poièvre agreed that the RCMP's allegations are “very concerning and need to be taken very seriously.”
“Foreign interference from any country, including India, is unacceptable and must be stopped. The first job of our government is to protect our people from foreign threats,” he said.
India's opposition National Congress party on Tuesday prompted Prime Minister Modi is scheduled to hold a frank conference with all parties in India on the “extremely sensitive and sensitive issue of deteriorating India-Canada relations.”
Michael Kugelman of the Wilson Center, an American think tank, said: said The BBC reported on Tuesday that relations between India and Canada “have been on the decline in recent years, but have now hit rock bottom.”
“They have made extremely serious and detailed allegations publicly, forced the resignation of ambassadors and top diplomats, and issued strongly worded diplomatic statements. This is uncharted territory for this troubled relationship.” he said.
Ryan Toohey, an author and India-Canada expert, predicted that the diplomatic crisis could do some damage to Trudeau, “a prime minister who seems to be making one big mistake after another.”
Toohey said the Indian diaspora in Canada was once dominated by Sikhs and Punjabis, but now includes many Hindus and others from parts of India that are less sympathetic to Sikhs. It was pointed out that it was included.
These Canadian-Indians tend to support the Modi government, some very strongly, and believe that Prime Minister Trudeau is simply playing “vote bank politics” by accusing the Indian government of murder. This may be a response to New Delhi's accusation that there is only one.
“My strong feeling is that after decades of pleading with the Canadian government to address India's concerns about pro-Khalistani elements in Canada, they feel they are back to square one. , except this time we have a much different government in Delhi, but one willing to act forcefully, rightly or wrongly, to curb what it perceives to be a domestic threat.'' Mr. Toohey said.
Canadian police warn at least a dozen members of Nijjar's separatist Khalistan movement in Canada that they face a “credible and imminent threat” from “criminal acts” orchestrated by Indian agents, BBC reports It was reported that.
