OTTAWA (TDI): Canada has expelled top Indian envoy along with five other diplomats as the disputes intensifies over assassination of a Sikh separatist on Canadian soil last year.
Commenting on the fresh row, Canadian Prime Minister Trudeau said that his government took the decision to expel six Indian diplomats as New Delhi was not cooperating in criminal investigations, according to BBC.
Speaking on television a day earlier, Canadian Prime Minister said that India had made “a fundamental error in supporting criminal acts in Canada” and his government had to act on the latest findings.
The Canadian government responded after police pursued credible allegations that Indian agents were directly act to kill Hardeep Singh Nijjar.
Read More:India resumes visa issuance for Canadians after diplomatic standoff
Canadian police also accused Indian agents of homicides, extortion and violent acts besides targeting supporters of the pro-Khalistan movement, which seeks a separate homeland in India.
Delhi, however, rejects the accusations and instead blames Trudeau for doing all to win support of Canada’s large Sikh community for political gain.
India and Canada had also expelled their diplomats as the row began over last year over assassination of the Sikh separatist. Later on some calm prevailed. But now after new findings by the police the tense situation seems to be returning.
“The evidence brought to light by the RCMP [Royal Canadian Mounted Police, Canada’s national police service] cannot be ignored,” the Canadian prime minister said.
The row led to a further deteriorating situation with India asking Canada to withdraw dozens of its diplomatic staff and suspending visa services.
BBC reported that India’s foreign ministry said Canada’s allegations were influenced by Sikh separatist campaigners.
It announced six Canadian diplomats, including acting High Commissioner Stewart Ross Wheeler, had been asked to leave India by 19 October.
Not only that, Wheeler was also summoned by India’s external affairs ministry for explanation.
Also Read:Diplomatic tensions on the rise between Canada & India
Wheeler told reporters later that Canada had given India the evidences it had demanded, it now needed to investigate the allegations.
The government of India has decided to withdraw the High Commissioner and other targeted diplomats and officials, officials in New Delhi told media saying they dont trust the present Canadian government.
Addressing a news conference, RCMP commissioner Mike Duheme said on Monday that there had been “over a dozen credible and imminent threats to life” which he said “specifically” focussed on members of the pro-Khalistan movement.
“We reached a point where we felt it was imperative to confront the government of India.”
Hardeep Singh Nijjar was shot dead by two masked gunmen near a sikh temple in Surrey, British Columbia. .
He had been a vocal supporter of the Khalistan movement, which demands a separate Sikh homeland, and publicly campaigned for it.
