O Canada announced, this Monday (14), the expulsion of the ambassador and five Indian diplomats from the country, according to a government source, at a time when the local police say they have “evidence” of the involvement of the New Delhi government in cases of “ intimidation, harassment, extortion and coercion” in Canadian territory.
India announced hours earlier that it was withdrawing its top diplomat in Canada because he was being investigated, along with other authorities, for the murder of a Sikh separatist leader last year.
“We do not believe in the current Canadian government’s commitment to ensuring its security,” India’s Ministry of External Affairs said in a statement.
“Therefore, the government of India has decided to withdraw the high commissioner (Sanjay Kumar Verma) and other diplomats and officials,” he added.
The murder of Canadian citizen Hardeep Singh Nijjar in 2023 ruptured diplomatic relations between the two countries and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said there are “credible allegations” linking Indian intelligence to the crime committed in Vancouver.
According to the ministry, the high commissioner, who also served as ambassador to Japan and Sudan, is a respected career diplomat and the allegations against him are “ridiculous and deserve to be treated with contempt.”
Nijjar, who immigrated to Canada in 1997 and became a Canadian citizen in 2015, has advocated declaring part of India an independent Sikh state, known as Khalistan.
He was wanted by Indian authorities for alleged terrorism and conspiracy to commit murder.
To date, four Indians have been arrested in connection with Nijjar’s murder, which occurred in the parking lot of a Sikh temple in Vancouver in June 2023.
