India ordered the expulsion of six Canadian diplomats on Monday and withdrew its own envoy from Canada, in response to what it said was Ottawa’s decision to name him and others as “persons of interest” in an investigation.
India did not go into detail on the investigation, but relations have been fraught since 2023, when Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said he had evidence linking Indian agents to the assassination of a Sikh separatist leader on his territory.
India has long denied Trudeau’s accusation. On Monday it dismissed Canada’s move on the inquiry and accused Trudeau of pursuing a “political agenda.”
“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.
It later said it had asked the six Canadian diplomats to leave by Saturday.
It also said it had summoned Canadian Charge d’Affaires Stewart Wheeler to protest.
Wheeler on Monday reiterated Trudeau’s accusation, saying in a statement: “Canada has provided credible, irrefutable evidence of ties between agents of the Government of India and the murder of a Canadian citizen on Canadian soil.
“Now, it is time for India to live up to what it said it would do and look into those allegations.”
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police said on Monday that it has significant amount of information on criminal activity orchestrated by agents of the Indian government.
The investigations have revealed that Indian diplomats and consular officials based in Canada are leveraging their official position to engage in “clandestine activities,” the RCMP said.
The Indian government has been collecting information through its officials in the country and this information is then used by the Indian government to target members of the south Asian community, according to the RCMP.
Trudeau said on Monday that the actions were “unacceptable,” and said while the RCMP and national security officials have made attempts to work with the Indian government and law enforcement, they’ve been “repeatedly refused.”
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“This is why, this weekend, Canadian officials took an extraordinary step,” Trudeau said. “They met with Indian officials to share RCMP evidence which concluded six agents of the Government of India are persons of interest in criminal activities and despite repeated requests to the government of India, it has decided not to cooperate.”
The prime minister went on to say the evidence could not be ignored and it was necessary to disrupt criminal activities posing a threat to safety.
“We will never tolerate the involvement of a foreign government threatening and killing Canadian citizens on Canadian soil, a deeply unacceptable violation of Canada’s sovereignty and of international law,” he said.
Foreign Affairs Minister Melanie Joly said as part of the investigation, it was requested that India waive diplomatic immunity for six individuals based on Canada so as to be able to question them as part of the RCMP investigation.
“Regrettably, as India did not agree and given the ongoing public safety concerns for Canadians, Canada served notices of expulsions to six diplomats and consular officials early this morning,” she said. “We’re not seeking diplomatic confrontation with India, but we will not sit quietly as agents of any country are linked to efforts to threaten, harass or even kill Canadians.”
When asked if the federal government was considering sanctions, Joly did not confirm but she did say that expelling diplomats was the “highest and toughest measure” that a country can take under the Vienna Convention, adding they’d continue to push India to “make sure that they cooperate.”
India has repeatedly said Canada has not shared any evidence to back its claim.
“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 earlier on Monday.
British Columbia Premier David Eby said he believed the information provided by the RCMP was “unprecedented” and “profoundly disturbing.”
Asked if he was worried about the well-being of the Sikh community in B.C., Eby said he was “profoundly concerned.”
“I know there are many people, on hearing this news who are concerned about their own safety, there are others who are wondering ‘how is this possible,’ that the government of India could potentially be involved in this kind of violent activity in Canada,” he said.
“But I can assure the SIkh community, but I can assure everybody in British Columbia and in Canada is that as far as the RCMP are involved, we will make sure they have all of the resources necessary to protect different communities in our province from foreign interference and also to make sure that they hold those involved in Canada accountable for any action threatening British Columbian, an Ontarian, an Albertan or Canadian.”
Eby went on to say he was told by Public Safety Minister Dominic LeBlanc there was “credible evidence” about potential crimes committed.
“There is credible evidence that the government of India through agents in Canada has been involved in homicides, plural, extortions, plural, acts of violence against Canadians, acts of intimidation against Canadians, with an aim of advancing the interests of the government of India,” Eby said. “This is obviously a very serious allegation and I am certain he would not be raising these issues, the RCMP would not be holding a press conference, if this wasn’t serious and credible information.”
Canada withdrew more than 40 diplomats from India in October 2023 after New Delhi asked Ottawa to reduce its diplomatic presence.
In June, a committee of Canadian parliamentarians named India and China as the main foreign threats to its democratic institutions, based on input from intelligence agencies.
The U.S. has also alleged that Indian agents were involved in an attempted assassination plot of another Sikh separatist leader in New York in 2023, and said it had indicted an Indian national working at the behest of an unnamed Indian government official.
India expressed concern after the U.S. raised the issue, dissociating itself from the plot, and has launched an investigation.
The accusations of assassination plots against Sikh separatist leaders in Canada and the U.S. have tested their relationship with India as they look to forge deeper ties with the country to counter China’s rising global influence.
–Reporting by Krishn Kaushik, Sakshi Dayal and Promit Mukherjee; editing by Sudipto Ganguly, Christian Schmollinger, Ed Osmond and Andrew Heavens
—with files from Motorcycle accident toronto today’ Sean Previl