Canada-India diplomatic row over Sikh activist’s assassination grows as top diplomats are expelled

Toronto — Canada and India have expelled each other’s senior diplomats in a growing diplomatic standoff sparked by the murder of a prominent Canadian Sikh activist last year. The tit-for-tat expulsions come amid serious allegations by Canada that Indian government agents were involved in the murder and extortion of Canadian citizens on Canadian soil — accusations that India has firmly denied.

On Monday, Canada announced the expulsion of India’s top diplomat in the country, along with five other officials. In response, India reciprocated by expelling six Canadian diplomats, including the High Commissioner of Canada in Delhi, Stewart Ross Wheeler, according to a statement from India’s Ministry of External Affairs of India.

What are Canada and India feuding over?

India and Canada have been embroiled in an intense dispute since the June, 2023 assassination of prominent Sikh activist Hardeep Singh Nijjar by masked gunmen outside a Sikh temple in Vancouver. 

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau told his country’s parliament last year that officials had “credible” evidence of an Indian government connection to the murder.

Nijjar, 45, had been designated a terrorist by India’s government over his support for the Sikh homeland movement, which calls for an independent nation for the religious group that makes up less than 2% of India’s population.  

His murder sparked widespread protests by the Sikh community in Canada and in India, many of whom also blamed India’s government for the assassination.

Canada is home to the most prominent Sikh diaspora outside India’s Punjab state. Nijjar, a member of the so-called pro-Khalistan movement, had organized an informal referendum in Canada to call for an independent Sikh nation within the borders of Punjab before he was killed.

The entire Khalistan statehood movement has been designated a terrorist organization by India, and Nijjar’s name appeared on the Indian Home Affairs terror watch-list prior to his killing. 

What Canada has said

Canada’s government said it had taken the extraordinary measure of expelling the senior Indian diplomats this week to protect Canadian citizens and reassure those who may feel their safety had been compromised.

“Keeping Canadians safe is the fundamental job of the Canadian government. The decision to expel these individuals was made with great consideration and only after the RCMP (Royal Canadian Mounted Police) gathered ample, clear and concrete evidence which identified six individuals as persons of interest in the Nijjar case,” Canadian Foreign Minister Melanie Joly said in a statement Monday.

The RCMP said its investigation had revealed individuals connected with the government of India were involved in serious criminal activities, including homicide and extortion. 

In addition to the assassination of Nijjar, the Canadian police said they’d responded to more than a dozen credible and immediate threats to life, leading them to warn members of the South Asian community, including individuals involved in the pro-Khalistan movement about the threats.

“We continue to ask that the Indian government support the ongoing investigation in the Nijjar case, as it remains in both our countries’ interest to get to the bottom of this,” said Joly.

What India has said

India has rejected Canada’s allegations from the beginning of the row more than a year ago.

“The Government of India strongly rejects these preposterous imputations and ascribes them to the political agenda of the Trudeau Government that is centered around vote bank politics,” India’s External Affairs Ministry said in a statement Monday.

India’s government claimed Canada had “not shared a shred of evidence” since September 2023, when Trudeau made the initial allegations of Indian agents being involved in Nijjar’s murder.

The government in New Delhi has dismissed Canada’s investigation into the Sikh leader’s killing as “a deliberate strategy of smearing India for political gains.”

This week, India expelled Wheeler, along with his deputy and four first secretaries. 

“The Trudeau Government has consciously provided space to violent extremists and terrorists to harass, threaten and intimidate Indian diplomats and community leaders in Canada,” India’s foreign ministry said in its statement.

On Monday, the Indian ministry summoned the Canadian Charge d’Affaires in the country and told him the “baseless targeting” of Indian diplomats in Canada was “completely unacceptable.”

CBS News’ Arshad Zargar reported from New Delhi.