India-Canada row LIVE updates: Delhi’s actions ‘unacceptable’, says Trudeau as tensions soar over Sikh separatist’s murder

Good Morning

Here’s a round-up of what has transpired since yesterday:

• Canada, in a diplomatic communique on October 13, alleged the involvement of Indian High Commissioner in the 2023 killing of Sikh sepratist Hardeep Singh Nijjar. India’s Ministry of External Affairs, on October 14, described the Canadian allegations as “preposterous imputations”, arguing that the matter was linked with the political challenges that the Trudeau government was facing on the domestic front
• India then proceeded to withdraw its High Commissioner Sanjay Kumar Verma and other senior diplomats stationed in Canada
• This was followed by the expulsion of six Canadian diplomats, including the chargé d’affaires Stewart Ross Wheeler.
• Later in the day, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police’s Mike Duheme said they have evidence allegedly tying Indian government agents to other homicides and violent acts in Canada.
• Canadian PM Trudeau closed off the day with a press conference in which he accused India of making a “fundamental error.” “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.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Canada has shared with its Five Eyes partners, the United Stated in particular, all information they have related to the allegations of the involvement of Indian officials in the killing of a Canadian national last year.

“From the beginning, as of last summer, we’ve worked closely with our Five Eyes partners, particularly with the United States, where they have gone through a similar pattern of behaviour from India in regards to an attempted extrajudicial killing,” Mr. Trudeau told reporters at a news conference in Ottawa.

Read more on this here…

June 18, 2023: Hardeep Singh Nijjar, 45, is shot dead outside a Sikh temple in Surrey, a Vancouver suburb with a large Sikh population. He was a Canadian citizen campaigning for the creation of an independent Sikh homeland carved out of India.

Sept. 1, 2023: A Canadian trade official says Canada paused talks on a proposed trade treaty with India, an unexpected move that came about three months after both countries said they planned to seal an initial pact in 2023.

Sept. 10, 2023: Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi conveys strong concerns about Sikh separatist protests in Canada to Prime Minister Trudeau on the sidelines of a G20 summit in New Delhi.

Sept. 18, 2023: Trudeau tells parliament that Canada was “actively pursuing credible allegations” linking Indian government agents to Nijjar’s killing.

Sept. 19, 2023: India dismisses Trudeau’s assertion as “absurd.” Each country expels a diplomat in tit-for-tat moves, with Canada throwing out India’s top intelligence officer in the country while India expelled his Canadian counterpart.

Sept. 22, 2023: India suspends issuing new visas for Canadians and asks Ottawa to reduce its diplomatic presence in India. India resumes issuing visas two months later.

Oct. 19, 2023: Canada has withdrawn 41 diplomats from India amid a dispute over Nijjar’s murder, Foreign Minister Melanie Joly says.

Oct. 29, 2023: Tens of thousands of Sikhs turn out in Surrey, British Columbia, at the same gurdwara, a Sikh house of worship, where Nijjar was killed to vote in an unofficial referendum on the creation of an independent Sikh state.

Nov. 21, 2023: India’s anti-terror agency files a case against Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, a Sikh separatist, stating that he warned Air India passengers in video messages shared on social media that their lives were in danger.

Nov. 22, 2023: A senior Biden administration official says U.S. authorities thwarted a plot to kill Pannun in the United States and issued a warning to India over concerns the New Delhi government was involved.

Feb. 5, 2024: India’s High Commissioner says in an interview with Canada’s Globe and Mail newspaper that India will not provide information to Canadian investigators over Nijjar’s murder until Canada shares evidence.

April 30, 2024: The White House describes as a serious matter a Washington Post report that an officer in India’s intelligence service was directly involved in both Nijjar’s killing and the foiled plot to kill Pannun in the U.S.

India’s foreign ministry said the report contained “unwarranted and unsubstantiated imputations.”

May 3, 2024:Canadian police charge three people linked to Nijjar’s murder, a source directly familiar with the matter says.

Aug. 27, 2024 Canadian police warn Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, an aide to Nijjar, of an increased threat to his life, a prominent Sikh separatist says.

– Reuters

1. Mr. Stewart Ross Wheeler, Acting High Commissioner

2. Mr. Patrick Hebert, Deputy High Commissioner

3. Ms. Marie Catherine Joly, First Secretary

4. Mr. lan Ross David Trites, First Secretary

5. Mr. Adam James Chuipka, First Secretary

6. Ms. Paula Orjuela, First Secretary

They have been asked to leave India by or before 11.59 p.m. on October 19, 2024.

– Kallol Bhattacharjee

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau branded New Delhi’s actions as “unacceptable” during a press conference in Ottawa on the diplomatic expulsions, which saw tensions reach a new height after the 2023 murder of Canadian citizen Hardeep Singh Nijjar.

“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.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Monday said that India had made a “fundamental error” as an escalating row over the killing of a Sikh separatist on Canadian soil last year saw both countries withdraw their ambassadors.

“The government of India made a fundamental error in thinking that they could engage in supporting criminal activity against Canadians here on Canadian soil, whether it be murders or extortion or other violent acts,” Mr. Trudeau told reporters in Ottawa, referring to allegations made by Canadian federal police against Indian intelligence.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau accused six Indian officials of “engaging in activities posing threat to public safety”, following a report by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP). 

“As the RCMP commissioner stated earlier they have clear and compelling evidence that agents of the Government of India have engaged in and continue to engage in activities that pose a significant threat to public safety. This includes clandestine information-gathering techniques, coercive behaviour targeting South Asian Canadians and involvement in a dozen threatening and violating acts including murder. This is unacceptable,” said PM Trudeau in a press conference.

“While attempts have been made by the RCMP and national security officials to work with the Government of India and Indian law enforcement counterparts on this matter they have been repeatedly refused. This is why this weekend Canadian officials took an extraordinary step 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. Despite repeated requests to the Government of India, it decided not to cooperate,” he added. 

In the press release, Global Affairs Canada announced that six Indian diplomats and consular officials “had received a notice of expulsion from Canada in relation to a targeted campaign against Canadian citizens by agents linked to the Government of India”. 

“The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) gathered information that established linkages between the investigation and agents of the Government of India. In order to further the investigation and allow the RCMP to interview relevant individuals, India was asked to waive diplomatic and consular immunities and to cooperate in the investigation,” the statement said.

“Regrettably, as India did not agree and given the ongoing public safety concerns for Canadians, Canada served notices of expulsion to these individuals. Subsequent to those notices, India announced it would withdraw its officials,” it said.

While summoning the Canadian Charge d’Affaires and rejecting Canada’s allegations against Indian High Commissioner Sanjay Kumar Verma and other Indian diplomats in the killing of Khalistani activist Hardeep Singh Nijjar, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said that India “reserves the right to take further steps in response to these latest efforts of the Canadian government to concoct allegations against Indian diplomats”.

“The Canadian government would do well to apologise to India and walk back this absurd measure, unheard of in modern diplomatic practice. At a time when geopolitical interests are aligning, it is a pity that Canada’s political leaders have chosen to sabotage bilateral ties with India for short-term political expediency,“ former High Commissioner to Canada Ajay Bisaria (2020-22) said, calling Canada’s actions a “needless escalation” of an “already vexed diplomatic situation”. 

Click here to read more…

The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) alleged that “agents” of the Indian government collaborated with the Lawrence Bishnoi gang to spread terror on Canadian soil, hours after India withdrew its diplomats from Canada on October 14.

RCMP Assistant Commissioner Brigitte Gaubin alleged, “What we have seen is the use of organised crime elements, and it’s been publicly attributed to one organised crime gang in particular… the Bishnoi group is connected to the agents of India.”

​

​

In a dramatic turn of events, India on Monday (October 14, 2024) decided to withdraw its High Commissioner Sanjay Kumar Verma and other senior diplomats stationed in Canada. Soon thereafter, India expelled six Canadian diplomats, including the chargé d’affaires Stewart Ross Wheeler. 

The developments came hours after the Canadian government declared the six Indian officials as “persons of interest” for their alleged role in the June 2023 killing of pro-Khalistan figure Hardeep Singh Nijjar in British Columbia.

​Click here to read more…​