India and Canada’s bilateral relations suffered a big blow last year over the killing of Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar in Canada when Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau accused Indian agents of orchestrating the terrorist’s murder.
Hardeep Singh Nijjar was shot on June 18, 2023, outside a gurudwara in Surrey, British Columbia. Nijjar was a radical vigilante of the Khalistan movement, a movement which is fighting for a sovereign state carved out of India for the Sikhs.
While India had rubbished off Trudeau’s allegations as ‘absurd’, sparks between the two nations reignited on Monday when India’s Ministry of External Affairs received communication from Canada that it had declared Indian diplomats as ‘persons of interest’ in an investigation surrounding the murder of the Sikh separatist.
Justin Trudeau on Monday said that Canada’s federal Royal Canadian Mounted Police had uncovered clear and compelling evidence that Indian government agents were responsible for serious criminal activity in Canada. After the Canadian PM passed this statement, India recalled its diplomats and consular officials, including India’s High Commissioner to Canada from Canada.
India also expelled six Canadian diplomats from India, including the Canadian High Commissioner to India, and has asked them to leave the country before midnight on October 19.
It is noteworthy that the Sikh community in Canada makes for a significant vote bank for Trudeau. While Trudeau has continually accused the Indian government of carrying out criminal activities on Canadian soil and assassinating a Canadian citizen who happened to be a Khalisatani terrorist, it has provided no material evidence of the same. All the Canadian PM has done so far is heap accusation upon accusation without sound proof and play the blame game, all for his precious vote bank.
Like Pakistan has and continues to be a haven for anti-India terrorists, Canada too has provided shelter to anti-India terror elements and not only harboured them but is now actively fighting for them too. Many Khalistani outfits are operating freely from Canadian soil, and Trudeau has been allowing these criminal activities to transpire. While India has time and again asked for evidence from Canada to support its allegations of Indian involvement in the murder of the Sikh separatist, Canada has neglected to address India’s concerns over its sheltering of anti-India terrorists.
