Canada has expelled six Indian diplomats after federal police said an investigation found that Indian government agents were involved in a “campaign of violence” against the country’s dissidents.
Speaking to reporters on Monday afternoon, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) uncovered “clear and compelling evidence” that Indian government agents had engaged in activities that threaten public safety in Canada.
“This includes clandestine information-gathering techniques, coercive behaviour targeting South Asian Canadians, and involvement in over a dozen threatening and violent acts, including murder,” Trudeau said during a news conference.
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“The evidence brought to light by the RCMP cannot be ignored. It leads to one conclusion: It is necessary to disrupt the criminal activities that continue to pose a threat to public safety in Canada,” the prime minister added.
In a tit-for-tat move following Canada’s expulsion of the Indian diplomats, India’s foreign ministry said that New Delhi would expel six Canadian diplomats – including the acting high commissioner – giving them until Saturday to leave the country.
The announcements came hours after India said it was withdrawing its top envoy to Ottawa and other diplomats because the Canadian government was investigating them as “persons of interest” in a probe.
India-Canada relations have been tense since September 2023 when Trudeau said Canada had credible evidence to link Indian agents to the assassination of Sikh separatist leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar on Canadian soil earlier 2023.
Nijjar supported a Sikh homeland in the form of an independent Khalistani state and was designated by India as a “terrorist” in July 2020.
India has repeatedly denied the allegation that its agents killed him, challenging Canada to share evidence to back its claim.
Earlier on Monday, India’s foreign ministry said it had summoned the Canadian charge d’affaires to denounce the “completely unacceptable” and “baseless targeting” of the Indian high commissioner and other diplomats and officials.
“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,” the Ministry of External Affairs said in a statement.
The ministry said it had “received a diplomatic communication from Canada suggesting that the Indian High Commissioner and other diplomats are persons of interest” in the ongoing investigation.
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But RCMP Commissioner Michael Duheme said during a news conference on Monday morning that police had learned “a significant amount of information on the breadth and depth of criminal activity orchestrated by agents of the government of India”.
Duheme said the activities amounted to “consequential threats to the safety and security of Canadians and individuals living in Canada”.