Canada has officially expelled India’s High Commissioner, Sanjay Kumar Verma, along with five other diplomats, as the Canadian national police prepares to disclose new information about India’s involvement in “violent criminal activities” in Canada, specifically targeting pro-Khalistan separatists. Following the expulsion notice, India recalled the diplomats, according to Canadian sources.
These sources revealed that Canadian police and intelligence have concrete evidence linking the six diplomats, including High Commissioner Verma, to the assassination plot of Sikh leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar in June 2023. Nijjar was closely associated with Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, founder of Sikhs for Justice (SFJ), who has survived multiple assassination attempts allegedly orchestrated by India.
Last week, the Canadian government presented evidence to India, showing that top Indian diplomats were implicated in the assassination plot. A senior Canadian official also claimed that India has been involved in other murders and violent acts in Canada. Since Nijjar’s killing, about a dozen pro-Khalistan Sikhs of Indian descent have been warned of credible threats from Indian agents.
RCMP Commissioner Mike Duheme is expected to provide more details on this matter at a press conference in Ottawa. Ahead of this, the Indian government stated that it had preemptively recalled its High Commissioner and other diplomats in response to receiving a notice on Sunday identifying them as “persons of interest” in the investigation. India strongly denied these accusations, attributing them to the political motives of Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government.
In retaliation, India has expelled six Canadian diplomats, including Acting High Commissioner Stewart Ross Wheeler and other senior officials, instructing them to leave by October 19, 2024.
Tensions between India and Canada have been high since September 2023, when Prime Minister Trudeau publicly claimed that there was credible evidence linking Indian agents to Nijjar’s assassination on Canadian soil.
On Monday, the Indian Ministry of External Affairs summoned Canada’s charge d’affaires to protest what it called the “completely unacceptable” and “baseless” targeting of Indian diplomats. The ministry also expressed distrust in the Canadian government’s ability to ensure their safety, leading to India’s decision to withdraw its diplomats.
Canada had previously pulled more than 40 diplomats from India in October 2023 after New Delhi requested a reduction in Ottawa’s diplomatic presence. Earlier this year, a Canadian parliamentary committee identified India as a major foreign threat to its democratic institutions, based on intelligence reports. Following Canada’s accusations, the United States also claimed that Indian agents were involved in an assassination attempt on SFJ leader Pannun in New York in 2023.
