Canada’s prime minister said India had made a “terrible mistake” in violating the country’s sovereignty as relations plunged to a new low.
India has accused Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau of “reckless behavior” amid an ongoing diplomatic spat over the killing of a Sikh separatist on Canadian soil last year.
India’s Ministry of External Affairs said Thursday that Indian government officials targeted Canada-based Sikh separatists, including Hardeep Singh Nijjar, a naturalized Canadian national who was killed in Vancouver in June 2023. “We have not presented any evidence” to support “serious allegations,” he said. .
The ministry slammed Trudeau, who said in a parliamentary inquiry on Wednesday that Canada had “clear … indications that India has violated Canada’s sovereignty.”
The ministry said the prime minister’s actions caused “damage” to India-Canada relations.
Speaking at the inquiry, Prime Minister Trudeau claimed that Nijjar’s murder was part of a large-scale Indian operation to systematically target Sikh dissidents in Canada seeking an independent Khalistan state, claiming that India had made a “terrible mistake”. ” was accused of committing a crime.
On October 14, 2024, India once again denied the claims that it was linked to Nijjar’s murder, calling the “ludicrous” claims a “strategy to malign India for political gain”.
On that day, India and Canada expelled each other’s diplomats over rifts.
Stewart Wheeler, Canada’s chief envoy to New Delhi, who was ordered to leave by Saturday night, said Ottawa had provided “credible and irrefutable evidence of a link between Indian government officials and the murder of Canadian citizens.” said.
Canadian authorities have arrested four Indian nationals in connection with Nijal’s murder.
Nijjar, who immigrated to Canada in 1997 and became a citizen in 2015, had advocated for the creation of a Sikh state known as Khalistan, independent of India.
He was wanted by Indian authorities on charges of terrorism and murder conspiracy.
Last year, the Indian government temporarily restricted visas for Canadians due to the incident.
The Indian government also faces accusations from the United States of attempting to assassinate Sikh separatists in the country.
In November 2023, the U.S. Department of Justice filed charges against Nikhil Gupta, an Indian national, for conspiracy to target Sikh-American activist Gurpatwant Singh Panun, who is also a dual U.S.-Canadian citizen. Announced.
