The ongoing diplomatic crisis between India and Canada intensified this Monday, October 14. New Delhi first recalled its high representative to Ottawa before the two countries expelled six diplomats each. India accuses Canada of investigating members of its representation following the murder in 2023 on Canadian soil of a Sikh separatist leader.
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The death of Canadian citizen Hardeep Singh Nijjar, who campaigned for the creation of an independent Sikh state in northern India called Khalistan, worsened relations between the two countries. The Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau had declared that there was credible allegations » linking the Indian secret services to this crime.
Monday October 14,India announced that it would recall several of its diplomats to Canada, starting with its high representative, Sanjay Kumar Verma. “ We do not have confidence in the current Canadian government’s commitment to ensuring their security », Explained the Indian Ministry of Foreign Affairs in a press release. The government therefore “ decided to recall the High Commissioner as well as other diplomats and officials targeted “.
Shortly before, this same ministry had said it had “ received a diplomatic communication from Canada suggesting that the Indian High Commissioner and other diplomats are persons of interest » as part of the ongoing investigation. He described it as “ absurd » allegations that India is involved in the murder, seeing it as a “ strategy of defaming India for political purposes “.
One-upmanship in diplomatic reprisals
Since Justin Trudeau’s accusations, New Delhi and Ottawa have clashed with diplomatic reprisals. Last year, India temporarily restricted visas for Canadians and forced Canada to repatriate some of its diplomats. Summoned by the Indian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Canada’s charge d’affaires, Stewart Wheeler, commented to the press: “ Canada has provided credible and compelling evidence of links between Indian government agents and the murder of a Canadian citizen on Canadian soil. Now is the time for India to deliver on its promises and address all these allegations. It is in the interest of both our countries and their peoples to get to the bottom of this. Canada is ready to cooperate with India. »
But the diplomatic battle has resumed with a vengeance. After the recall of the top Indian representative in Ottawa, India announced the expulsion of six high-ranking Canadian diplomats, including Stewart Wheeler, his deputy and four first secretaries. “ They were asked to leave India at or before 11:59 p.m. Saturday, October 19 », Specified the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The Canadian response was not long in coming. Ottawa also announced the expulsion of six Indian diplomats, including the high representative in Ottawa – the same one recalled by New Delhi earlier.
In November 2023, the US Department of Justice accused an Indian citizen living in the Czech Republic of planning a similar assassination attempt in the United States. Prosecutors said an Indian government official was also involved in the case. Killed in the parking lot of a Sikh temple in Vancouver (west) in June 2023, Hardeep Singh Nijjar, who had immigrated to Canada in 1997 before being naturalized in 2015, was wanted by Indian authorities for alleged terrorism and conspiracy. to commit murder.
Some 770,000 Sikhs live in Canada, constituting 2% of the population, with an active minority calling for the creation of an independent state of Khalistan.