Canada expels six Indian diplomats for alleged involvement in murder of Sikh separatist
Canada expelled six top Indian diplomats and consular officials on Monday, including India's high commissioner, citing them as "persons of interest" in the murder of Sikh separatist figure, Hardeep Singh Nijjar.
In June 2023 Nijjar was assassinated by masked gunmen in Vancouver, British Columbia, after which three Indian nationals were arrested and charged for the crime. The investigation triggered a diplomatic spat in September when Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau alleged that the Indian government was involved in the killing.
New Delhi denies the allegations.
On Monday, Canadian law enforcement authorities accused the Indian government of running a wide-ranging criminal network to intimidate and target Canadian Sikh separatists.
India’s High Commissioner to Canada Sanjay Kumar Verma was declared persona non grata by the Canadian government along with a number of other officials for their alleged roles in criminal activity, extortion and homicide.
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"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," the foreign ministry said in a statement.
The development marks a new low between India and Canada, with the potential to rupture ties between the two Commonwealth nations.
The Indian government accused Trudeau of making the decision based on a "political agenda" and said it was pulling its diplomats out of Canada.
"We have no faith in the current Canadian Government's commitment to ensure their security. Therefore, the Government of India has decided to withdraw the High Commissioner and other targeted diplomats and officials," India's foreign ministry said in a statement.
On Monday New Delhi also announced that it, too, would be expelling six Canadian diplomats, including the Canadian embassy’s second-highest ranking diplomat, Stewart Wheeler, the charge d’affaires.
Canada's law enforcement authorities have a "significant amount of information about the breadth and depth of criminal activity orchestrated by agents of the government of India in consequential threats to the safety and security of Canadians and individuals living in Canada," the RCMP said in a statement.
The law enforcement agency said the government of India is linked to homicides and extortion and used organised crime to target the South Asian community in Canada and interfere in democratic processes.
The Indian government says that Canada has yet to provide any evidence of its investigation into Nijjar's killing or India's involvement in the assassination.
"This latest step follows interactions that have again witnessed assertions without any facts. This leaves little doubt that on the pretext of an investigation, there is a deliberate strategy of smearing India for political gains," India's foreign ministry said on Monday.
Later on Monday Prime Minister Trudeau released a statement defending Canada's actions, saying that India's response to the allegations has been denial, obfuscation, and personal attacks.
"[It] is obvious that the government of India made a fundamental error in thinking that they could engage in supporting criminal activity against Canadians here on Canadian soil.
"We will never tolerate the involvement of a foreign government threatening and killing Canadian citizens on Canadian soil."
Canada withdrew more than 40 diplomats from India in October 2023 after New Delhi asked Ottawa to reduce its diplomatic presence.
Canada is host to one of the largest Indian diaspora communities in the world with a population of just under two million, with Sikhs dominating the community at 36 percent compared to Hindus as 32 percent of the diaspora.
The majority of the diaspora is concentrated in Ontario and British Columbia.
Assassination plot in US
US prosecutors in New York in November charged an Indian national with a failed attempt to assassinate an American citizen on US soil, according to an indictment.
Authorities say that an unnamed Indian government official recruited 52-year-old Nikhil Gupta, who went on to contact someone he believed to be a hitman, to kill Gurpatwant Singh Pannun. Pannun is a prominent Sikh activist and New York-based lawyer for the Punjabi secessionist group, Sikhs for Justice.
The individual Gupta contacted was, however, not a hit man but an undercover officer working for the US Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA). According to Wednesday's indictment, Gupta had brokered a deal in which the unnamed Indian government employee would pay the hitman $100,000 for the killing.
The indictment did not name Pannun as the victim. However, Biden administration officials later said that the target of the failed assassination was the Sikh activist.
“The dedicated law enforcement agents and prosecutors in this case foiled and exposed a dangerous plot to assassinate a US citizen on US soil," assistant attorney general Matthew Olsen said in a statement.
"The Department of Justice will be relentless in using the full reach of our authorities to pursue accountability for lethal plotting emanating from overseas."
The indictment said that the plot to assassinate Pannun took place in June, around the same time that Nijjar was assassinated.
Gupta was arrested that same month while in the Czech Republic, which has a bilateral extradition treaty with the US. He faces charges that could land him a sentence of 10 years in jail.
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