https://arab.news/rbv4z
- Relations fraught since the murder of a Sikh separatist leader in British Columbia last year
- Canadian PM says Indian officials identified as 鈥榩ersons of interest鈥� in the assassination plot
NEW DELHI: Relations between India and Canada have reached a historic low as the countries expelled each other鈥檚 diplomats in an ongoing row over the killing of a Sikh separatist activist on Canadian soil.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau accused India鈥檚 government on Monday of 鈥渟upporting criminal activity against Canadians here on Canadian soil,鈥� and the country鈥檚 Foreign Ministry announced the expulsion of six Indian diplomats, including the high commissioner.
The ministry said Canadian police had gathered evidence, which identified them as 鈥減ersons of interest鈥� in last year鈥檚 killing of Hardeep Singh Nijjar, who was gunned down in Surrey, British Columbia.
India immediately rejected the accusations as absurd, and its Ministry of External Affairs said it was expelling Canada鈥檚 acting high commissioner, his deputy, and the embassy鈥檚 four first secretaries.
Before the announcement, it also summoned the Canadian charge d鈥檃ffaires and said it was withdrawing its high commissioner and 鈥渙ther targeted diplomats,鈥� contradicting Canada鈥檚 statement of expulsion.
鈥淧rime Minister Trudeau has been making these public statements repeatedly, but the evidence that he claims to possess is not available to us so we cannot make any kind of a judgment,鈥� Dr. Ajai Sahni, executive director of the Institute for Conflict Management in New Delhi, told Arab News.
鈥淭his is the first time the relationship is so low 鈥� It has created a lot of problems and it has done damage to relationships between the two countries for the time being.鈥�
This is not the first time India-Canada relations have been strained. In 1974, after India conducted its first nuclear weapon test, it drew outrage from Canada, which accused it of extracting plutonium from a Canadian reactor, a gift intended for peaceful use.
Ottawa subsequently suspended its support for New Delhi鈥檚 nuclear energy program.
鈥淭he relationship was also low in the 1980s with the hijacking of an Indian Airlines plane and the bombing of the plane, in which many people died,鈥� said Prof. Ronki Ram, political science lecturer at the Punjab University.
The explosion from a bomb planted by Canada-based militants killed 329 people 鈥� the worst terrorist attack in Canadian history. India had warned the Canadian government about the possibility of attacks and accused the Canadian Security Intelligence Service of not acting on it.
But the current strain in relations is the first in which diplomats have been withdrawn.
鈥淭his is the first time that the relationship has gone down so low,鈥� Ram said.
鈥淎llegations and counter-allegations will have serious implications both internationally and domestically. The Indian government should look into the allegations and try to address them.鈥�
Nijjar, a Sikh Canadian citizen, was gunned down in June 2023 outside a Sikh temple in Surrey, which has a significant number of Sikh residents. He was an outspoken supporter of the Khalistan movement, which calls for a separate Sikh homeland in parts of India鈥檚 Punjab state.
The movement is outlawed in India, considered a national security threat by the government, and Nijjar鈥檚 name appears on the Indian Home Ministry鈥檚 list of terrorists.
Canada has the largest population of Sikhs outside their native state of Punjab 鈥� about 770,000 or 2 percent of its entire population.
鈥淢any Panjabi diaspora are in Canada, and a mini-Punjab has been established there,鈥� Ram said.
鈥淭he government is taking an electoral interest in the landscape of Canada also. Those things are becoming very critical.鈥�