Ottawa, Canada—Canada on Monday (Tuesday in Manila) accused India’s government of involvement in the killing of a Canadian Sikh leader near Vancouver last June, prompting tit-for-tat diplomatic expulsions after New Delhi rejected the charge as “absurd.”
The accusations sent already sour relations between Ottawa and New Delhi to a dramatic new low.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau told an emergency parliamentary session that his government had “credible allegations” linking Indian agents to the June slaying of exiled Sikh leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar in British Columbia.
“The involvement of any foreign government in the murder of a Canadian citizen on Canadian soil is an unacceptable violation of our sovereignty,” Trudeau said.
He called “in the strongest possible terms” on the Indian government to cooperate in clearing up the matter.
Foreign Minister Melanie Joly said the Trudeau government had taken immediate action. AFP
“Today we have expelled a senior Indian diplomat from Canada,” she said, without naming the official.
Jolie said the expelled Indian is the head of the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW), India’s foreign intelligence agency, in Canada.
India’s foreign ministry on Tuesday rejected claims of involvement in Nijjar’s death and said it had ordered an unnamed senior Canadian diplomat to leave the country within five days.
“Allegations of Government of India’s involvement in any act of violence in Canada are absurd,” the ministry said in a statement, adding: “We are a democratic polity with a strong commitment to rule of law.”
It said Trudeau — who visited New Delhi this month for the G20 summit — had already made similar allegations to his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi, and that they had been “completely rejected.”
The ministry’s decision to expel a Canadian diplomat reflected its “growing concern at the interference of Canadian diplomats in our internal matters and their involvement in anti-India activities,” it added. AFP