Canada has expelled six Indian diplomats after federal police said an investigation found that Indian government agents were involved in a “campaign of violence” against dissidents in the North American country.
Speaking to reporters on Monday afternoon, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) uncovered “clear and compelling evidence” that Indian government agents had engaged in activities that threaten public safety in Canada.
“This includes clandestine information-gathering techniques, coercive behaviour targeting South Asian Canadians, and involvement in over a dozen threatening and violent acts, including murder,” Trudeau said during a news conference.
“The evidence brought to light by the RCMP cannot be ignored. It leads to one conclusion: It is necessary to disrupt the criminal activities that continue to pose a threat to public safety in Canada,” the prime minister added.
In a tit-for-tat move following Canada’s expulsion of the Indian diplomats, India’s foreign ministry said that New Delhi would expel six Canadian diplomats – including the acting high commissioner – giving them until Saturday to leave the country.
The announcements came hours after India said it was withdrawing its top envoy to Ottawa and other diplomats because the Canadian government was investigating them as “persons of interest” in a probe.
India-Canada relations have been tense since September 2023 when Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Canada had credible evidence to link Indian agents to the assassination of Sikh separatist leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar on Canadian soil earlier that year.
Nijjar supported a Sikh homeland in the form of an independent Khalistani state and was designated by India as a “terrorist” in July 2020.
India has repeatedly denied the allegation that its agents killed him, challenging Canada to share evidence to back its claim.
Earlier on Monday, India’s foreign ministry said it had summoned the Canadian charge d’affaires to denounce the “completely unacceptable” and “baseless targeting” of the Indian high commissioner and other diplomats and officials.
“We have no faith in the current Canadian Government’s commitment to ensure their security. Therefore, the Government of India has decided to withdraw the High Commissioner and other targeted diplomats and officials,” the Ministry of External Affairs said in a statement.
The ministry said it had “received a diplomatic communication from Canada suggesting that the Indian High Commissioner and other diplomats are persons of interest” in the ongoing investigation.
But RCMP Commissioner Michael Duheme said during a news conference on Monday morning that police had learned “a significant amount of information on the breadth and depth of criminal activity orchestrated by agents of the government of India”.
Duheme said the activities amounted to “consequential threats to the safety and security of Canadians and individuals living in Canada”.
‘Serious escalation’
Vina Nadjibulla, research director at the Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada, told Al Jazeera that the expulsions marked “a serious escalation in the diplomatic tensions that have been going on for over a year now between Canada and India”.
“We’re seeing a diplomatic rupture,” said Nadjibulla, adding that the response of other countries, including the United States and other members of the Group of 7 bloc of nations, will likely play an important role.
“Canada is continuing to call on India to cooperate with the investigation, but India has refused to do that,” she said. “What will be decisive in this is the views of our key allies and partners.”
In its earlier statement, the Indian foreign ministry said New Delhi “strongly” rejected Canada’s allegations and reiterated that Canada has not provided any proof “despite many requests from our side”.
“This latest step follows interactions that have again witnessed assertions without any facts. This leaves little doubt that on the pretext of an investigation, there is a deliberate strategy of smearing India for political gains,” the statement added.
“India now reserves the right to take further steps in response to these latest efforts of the Canadian Government to concoct allegations against Indian diplomats.”
The Indian government also accused the Trudeau government of providing “space to violent extremists and terrorists to harass, threaten and intimidate Indian diplomats and community leaders in Canada”.
For years, India has accused Canada of not doing enough to stem anti-India activism and what it dubs “Sikh extremism”. Ottawa has rejected the accusation that it is harbouring or encouraging extremists.
Assassination plots
Canada pulled out more than 40 diplomats from India in October 2023 after New Delhi asked Ottawa to reduce its diplomatic presence following the accusations Indian government agents were involved in Nijjar’s killing.
Soon after those allegations were made, the US also accused Indian government agents of being involved in the attempted assassination of another Sikh separatist leader in New York last year.
In late November 2023, the US Department of Justice announced charges against a 52-year-old Indian national, Nikhil Gupta, over a foiled attempt to assassinate Sikh American activist Gurpatwant Singh Pannun.
The plot to kill Pannun was organised in coordination with an Indian government employee and others, according to the Justice Department. India also rejected those allegations.
Back in Canada, in June, a committee of Canadian parliamentarians named India and China as the main foreign threats to the country’s democratic institutions, based on input from intelligence agencies.
India’s envoy in Ottawa, Sanjay Kumar Verma, called the report politically motivated and influenced by Sikh separatist campaigners.
Earlier this year, Trudeau said he hoped India would engage with his government “so that we can get to the bottom of this very serious matter”.
The assassination plots against Sikh separatist leaders in Canada and the US have tested their relationship with India, as the Western nations hope to forge deeper ties with New Delhi to counter China’s rising global influence.
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