Top Indian diplomats are expelled by Canada for being connected to the Sikh leader’s murder

Six Indian diplomats, including the high commissioner, were expelled by Canada on Monday after it claimed they were involved in the killing of a Sikh separatist leader and that there was a larger attempt to target Indian dissidents in the country.

India responded earlier in the day by declaring it had withdrawn its envoy from Canada and demanding the expulsion of six senior Canadian diplomats, including the acting high commissioner, in defiance of Canada’s expulsion declaration.

Relations between the two Commonwealth nations have significantly deteriorated as a result of the diplomatic dispute. Since Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau claimed to have proof last year that Indian spies were involved in the assassination of Sikh leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar on Canadian soil, relations have soured.

At a press conference, Trudeau stated that the government now possesses “clear and compelling evidence that agents of the government of India have engaged in and continue to engage in activities that pose a significant threat to public safety.”

According to him, these operations included the use of covert methods to obtain information, coercive tactics, targeting South Asian Canadians, and participation in more than a dozen violent and threatening crimes, including murder.

“This is unacceptable,” he declared, adding that India had made a basic mistake by committing crimes in Canada.
India has always refuted Trudeau’s charges. It rejected Canada’s action on the investigation on Monday and charged Trudeau with having a “political agenda.”

In a previous press conference, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police stated that the Indian government had launched a comprehensive campaign against Indian dissidents, which included extortion and murders. According to investigators, it had also obstructed democratic procedures and targeted the South Asian population in Canada through organized crime.

The associate commissioner of the RCMP, Brigitte Gauvin, referred to “the Bishnoi group” and stated that “what we have seen is…the use of organized crime elements.”
“We believe…is connected to the agents of the Government of India,” she stated of the outfit.

Lawrence Bishnoi is the leader of an organized crime gang, according to India’s National Investigation Agency (NIA). He is incarcerated in western India while he awaits prosecution for terrorism-related offenses.

Regarding the Canadian accusations, Bishnoi’s attorney, Rajani, who goes by one name, stated that “the investigation agencies will look into it, this matter will be investigated.” Whatever is present will come to light.

She stated that final charges have not yet been framed and that cases are still being probed by the NIA.

Canada’s foreign ministry said: “The decision to expel these individuals was made with great consideration and only after the RCMP gathered ample, clear and concrete evidence which identified six individuals as persons of interest in the Nijjar case”.

India announced that it was removing its diplomats from Canada due to its lack of confidence in the ability to ensure their safety.

“We don’t believe that the current Canadian government will protect them. Thus, the High Commissioner and other targeted diplomats and personnel have been withdrawn by the Government of India,” a statement from India’s foreign ministry stated.

Additionally, India reported that it had requested the departure of six Canadian ambassadors by Saturday. Additionally, the ministry announced that it had called in Stewart Wheeler, Canada’s Acting High Commissioner in India and the country’s top diplomat at the moment.

LARGE RUPTURE

In order for Canadian investigating agencies to interview six diplomats about the alleged illegal activities, the government has asked India to lift their diplomatic immunity, according to Canadian Foreign Minister Melanie Joly.

However, India had to dismiss the ambassadors because of their lack of cooperation.
“We’re not seeking diplomatic confrontation with India,” she stated. “But we will not sit quietly as agents of any country are linked to efforts to threaten, harass or even kill Canadians.”

After New Delhi requested that Ottawa decrease its diplomatic presence in India, Canada removed around 40 diplomats from the country in October 2023.

According to Fen Osler Hampson, an international relations professor at Carleton University in Ottawa, “we have gone from a rift to a major rupture in the relationship with India,” during a phone interview. “It is hard to see at this juncture that a return to normalcy will happen any time in the foreseeable future.”

Outside of their native Punjab, Canada is home to the largest Sikh population, and protests have irritated the Indian government in recent years.

In addition, the U.S. claimed to have indicted an Indian national acting at the direction of an unidentified Indian government official and claimed that Indian agents were complicit in an attempted assassination plan against another Sikh separatist leader in New York last year.

The State Department announced Monday that an Indian government committee looking into Indian involvement in the thwarted murder attempt will meet with U.S. authorities in Washington this week.

In an effort to oppose China’s growing influence in the world, Sikh separatist leaders in Canada and the United States have been accused of plotting assassinations, which has put their relationship with India to the test.