The killing of a Sikh separatist leader last year sparked recriminations against New Delhi by the Trudeau-led government
India has expelled six Canadian diplomats, including High Commissioner Stewart Ross Wheeler, the Ministry of External Affairs in New Delhi said in a statement on Monday. The diplomats have been asked to leave India by Saturday.
The announcement came hours after New Delhi said it is withdrawing its high commissioner and other diplomats from Canada, after the Canadian government led by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau linked them to the murder of Sikh separatist leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar in a Vancouver suburb last year.
New Delhi stated that it had received a diplomatic communication from Ottawa on Sunday suggesting that its officials, including the high commissioner, were “persons of interest” in the ongoing investigation.
At the same time, Reuters, Canadian broadcaster CBC, and the Washington Post reported on Monday, citing government sources, that Canada had expelled six Indian diplomats. The reports appeared hours after Canadian police said that Indian officials had been part of a government “campaign of violence.”
Royal Canadian Mounted Police Commissioner Michael Duheme stated at a press conference on Monday that Canadian investigations had revealed that “Indian diplomats and consular officials based in Canada leverage their position to engage in clandestine activities such as collecting information for the government of India, either directly or through their agents and other individuals.”
The Canadian police claimed that this information was used to target “members of the South Asian community,” particularly in the Khalistan movement. Police officials also claimed that agents of the Indian government had been using elements of “organized crime” to target pro-Khalistan activists.
Canada is home to the world’s largest Sikh population outside India, but also has a large contingent of radical Sikhs, who press for the creation of a separate nation state carved out of India.
Trudeau publicly accused New Delhi of involvement in the killing of Nijjar, a prominent member of the Khalistan movement, in September 2023. The issue stirred a massive diplomatic row and left ties strained. New Delhi has denied the allegations and asked Canada for proof to substantiate the claims.
Duheme, meanwhile, said on Monday that an “extraordinary situation” had compelled it to publicly disclose information about ongoing investigations.
Canadian police officials also suggested that their attempts to meet with their law enforcement counterparts in India to present evidence that Indian government agents were involved in criminal activity in Canada had been unsuccessful.
Earlier in the day, New Delhi termed Canada’s allegations “preposterous imputations,” suggesting it was part of Trudeau’s “political agenda” centered on “vote bank politics.”
