The diplomatic row between Canada and India has been reignited due to mounting concerns of foreign interference and ongoing investigations into the 2023 killing of a Sikh separatist leader in British Columbia. After Ottawa expelled six Indian diplomats for their alleged involvement in a targeted campaign against Canadian citizens, India retaliated by expelling six Canadian diplomats. The Indian government has denied any involvement in the killing of Hardeep Singh Nijjar and has accused Prime Minister Justin Trudeau of pursuing a political agenda. The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) has significant evidence linking Indian government agents to criminal activities in Canada, including violence, organized crime, and interference in democratic processes.
The investigations by the RCMP have uncovered that Indian diplomats and consular officials based in Canada have been engaging in clandestine activities and violent extremism. The evidence also suggests links between Indian government agents and homicides, organized crime targeting the South Asian community in Canada, and interference in democratic processes. Global Affairs Canada expelled six Indian diplomats and consular officials, including Indian High Commissioner Sanjay Kumar Verma, who allegedly oversaw the operation. In retaliation, India expelled six Canadian diplomats and withdrew its envoy named in the RCMP probe. Relations between India and Canada have deteriorated since Trudeau made allegations linking Indian government agents to the assassination of Nijjar in 2023.
Nijjar was a prominent leader of the Khalistan movement, seeking independence for India’s Sikh-majority Punjab region. He was murdered in 2023, and four Indian nationals have been charged with his killing. The Indian government had accused Nijjar of leading a terrorist group, but no credible evidence was ever produced. Trudeau publicly stated that investigators had found credible evidence linking Indian government agents to Nijjar’s killing, which India has denied. The Khalistan movement dates back to the conflicts surrounding India and Pakistan’s independence in 1947 and became a bloody armed insurgency in the 1970s and 1980s. While there is no active insurgency in Punjab today, the Khalistan movement still has supporters within the Sikh diaspora outside of India.
Canada has requested India to waive diplomatic and consular immunities for the expelled individuals, so they can be interviewed by the RCMP, but India has refused to cooperate. The escalating tensions between Canada and India come as a federal foreign interference inquiry continues to investigate allegations of meddling in Canadian elections and society by countries like India and China. Both the Foreign Interference Commission and the National Security and Intelligence Committee of Parliamentarians have identified India as the second most serious foreign interference threat to Canada, after China. The ongoing investigation into the killing of Nijjar and the alleged involvement of Indian government agents have further strained relations between the two countries.