Canada expels Indian diplomat while investigating death of Sikh leader

A Canadian Foreign Minister Mélanie Joly stated that the head of Indian intelligence in Canada was expelled as a result of this investigation.

“If true, this would be a major violation of our sovereignty and the most basic rule of how countries deal with each other. As a result, we expelled an important Indian diplomat,” said the Canadian minister.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau revealed today that his country’s intelligence services implicated Indian authorities in the murder, in Canada, of a leader of the Sikh community.

“Any involvement by a foreign government in the murder of a Canadian on Canadian soil is an unacceptable violation of our sovereignty,” Trudeau said in the Lower House of Canada’s Parliament.

The Prime Minister added that Canada “has conveyed its deep concerns to the highest security officials and the Indian Government” about the murder of Hardeep Singh Nijjar, which took place in June in the city of Surrey, in western Canada.

Joly said Trudeau also raised the issue with United States President Joe Biden.

Singh Nijjar, shot on June 18 by unknown assailants in the parking lot of a Sikh temple, was accused of terrorism by Indian authorities for advocating the creation of an independent country in the state of Punjab, Khalistan, for the Sikh minority.

Trudeau today informed the country’s main political leaders about the conclusions of Canadian intelligence services about India’s involvement in the assassination and stated that during the G20 summit, held in India on September 9 and 10, he demanded explanations from his Indian counterpart , Narendra Modi.

“In the strongest possible terms, I recommend that the Government of India collaborate with Canada to get to the bottom of this matter,” said the Canadian Prime Minister, who described what happened as “extremely serious.”

Public Security Minister Dominic LeBlanc said today that Canada’s national security adviser and chief intelligence officer traveled to India to meet with their counterparts and to confront Indian intelligence agencies with the allegations.

LeBlanc said it is an active homicide investigation led by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.

Canadian Conservative opposition leader Pierre Poilievre said if the allegations are true, they represent “an outrageous affront to our sovereignty.”

On September 1, the Canadian Government announced the suspension of talks with India to sign a free trade agreement, without explaining the reasons. Canada also canceled a trade mission to India that was supposed to take place in October.

About 1.8 million people of Indian origin live in Canada, of which about 770,000 are Sikhs.

The leader of the social-democratic New Democratic Party (NPD), Jagmeet Singh, the fourth party in the Canadian Parliament, is Sikh.

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