Canada, India expel diplomats as Ottawa suspects possible Indian link to Khalistan leader’s murder

TORONTO: Canada and India have expelled a senior diplomat each after Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau alleged the involvement of “agents of the Indian government” in the killing of a prominent Sikh separatist leader in Surrey in June, claims outrightly rejected by New Delhi as “absurd” and “motivated”.

Hardeep Singh Nijjar, 45, the chief of the banned Khalistan Tiger Force (KTF) and one of India’s most-wanted terrorists who carried a cash reward of Rs 10 lakh on his head, was shot dead by two unidentified gunmen outside a gurdwara in Surrey in the western Canadian province of British Columbia on June 18.

“Over the past number of weeks, Canadian security agencies have been actively pursuing credible allegations of a potential link between agents of the Government of India and the killing of a Canadian citizen, Hardeep Singh Nijjar,” Trudeau said Monday in a speech to the House of Commons.

After Trudeau’s remarks in Parliament, Canadian Foreign Minister Melanie Joly confirmed that she has ordered the expulsion of “a senior Indian diplomat.”                                                              (photo credit-Reuters, The Hindu)

Reacting sharply to the allegations and Joly’s remarks, India on Tuesday rejected Trudeau’s claims, calling them “absurd and motivated”.

The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) has also asked a Canadian diplomat to leave India within the next five days.

“Allegations of the Government of India’s involvement in any act of violence in Canada are absurd and motivated,” the MEA said in a statement on Tuesday in New Delhi.

“Similar allegations were made by the Canadian Prime Minister to our Prime Minister, and were completely rejected,” it said.

“We are a democratic polity with a strong commitment to the rule of law,” the MEA said.

“Such unsubstantiated allegations seek to shift the focus from Khalistani terrorists and extremists, who have been provided shelter in Canada and continue to threaten India’s sovereignty and territorial integrity,” it said.

“The inaction of the Canadian Government on this matter has been a long-standing and continuing concern,” the ministry said.

The MEA said Canadian political figures have openly expressed sympathy for such elements remains a matter of deep concern.

“The space given in Canada to a range of illegal activities including murders, human trafficking and organised crime is not new,” the MEA said.

“We reject any attempts to connect the Government of India to such developments,” it said.

“We urge the Government of Canada to take prompt and effective legal action against all anti-India elements operating from their soil,” it added.

Hours later, Trudeau said he was not looking to “provoke” India or “escalate” tensions, but urged New Delhi to take the killing of a Sikh separatist leader with the “utmost seriousness”.

He said the Indian government needs to “take this matter with the utmost seriousness.

“We are doing that. We are not looking to provoke or escalate,” he told reporters.

“We want to work with the government of India to lay everything clear and to ensure there are proper processes.” In his speech in Parliament on Monday, Trudeau told the lawmakers that any involvement of a foreign government in killing a Canadian citizen on Canadian soil is an unacceptable violation of our sovereignty.

“It is contrary to the fundamental rules by which free, open and democratic societies conduct themselves,” he said.