High Commission of Canada in New Delhi.
| Photo Credit: AFP

Canada said Thursday it had withdrawn 41 diplomats from India – fallout from a bitter row over the killing of a Sikh separatist on Canadian soil.

New Delhi planned to revoke diplomatic immunity for all but 21 of Canada’s diplomats and their families by Friday, forcing Ottawa to pull out the others, Foreign Affairs Minister Melanie Joly said.

“We have facilitated their safe departure from India,” Ms. Joly added. “This means that our diplomats and their families have now left.”

Relations between India and Canada have plunged since Prime Minister Justin Trudeau last month publicly linked Indian intelligence to the killing of Canadian citizen Hardeep Singh Nijjar, which New Delhi has denied.

Nijjar, who advocated for a separate Sikh state carved out of India, was wanted by Indian authorities for alleged terrorism and conspiracy to commit murder.

“Revoking the diplomatic immunity of 41 diplomats is not only unprecedented, but also contrary to international law,” Ms. Joly said Wednesday, but said Canada did not plan to retaliate in kind, so as to not “aggravate the situation.”

“Canada will continue to defend international law, which applies to all nations and will continue to engage with India,” she said.

“Now more than ever we need diplomats on the ground and we need to talk to one another,” Ms. Joly added.

Countermeasures

Canada has called for India to cooperate in the investigation but New Delhi has rejected the allegations and taken countermeasures, such as shutting down visa services for Canadians.

Ottawa also expelled an Indian diplomat over the affair.

External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar said last month in New York that his country would be willing to examine any evidence presented by Canada.

“We have actually been badgering the Canadians. We’ve given them loads of information about organized crime leadership which operates out of Canada,” Mr. Jaishankar said, referring to Sikh separatists.

“We have a situation where actually our diplomats are threatened, our consulates have been attacked and often comments are made (that are) interference in our politics,” he said.

The Indian government has called the Canadian accusations over the killing “absurd” and advised its nationals not to travel to certain Canadian regions “given the increase in anti-Indian activities.”

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New Delhi also temporarily stopped processing visa applications in Canada.

Nijjar, who immigrated to Canada in 1997 and became a Canadian citizen in 2015, was shot dead by two masked assailants in the parking lot of a Sikh temple near Vancouver in June.

Canada is home to some 770,000 Sikhs, who make up about two percent of the country’s population, with a vocal group calling for creating a separate state of Khalistan.

The Sikh separatist movement is largely finished within India, where security forces used deadly force to put down an insurgency in the state of Punjab in the 1980s.

Hundreds of Sikh protesters rallied outside Indian diplomatic missions in Canada last month, burning flags and trampling on pictures of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The tensions between Ottawa and New Delhi have created a delicate situation for close Canadian ally Washington, which has in recent months taken steps to move closer to India as the United States seeks to limit Chinese influence in the region.

India on Thursday suspended issue of visas to Canadian citizens “till further notice”. A notice by BLS International – a private agency hired for initial scrutiny of visa applications – said “Due to operational reasons… Indian visa services have been suspended till further notice”.

This comes as India and Canada are locked in an international row over Ottawa’s claim it has “credible allegations” linking agents of New Delhi to the murder of Hardeep Singh Nijjar, a pro-Khalistan Sikh terrorist. India has rejected the allegation as “absurd” and “motivated”.

It is not yet clear if the suspension of visas is linked to that row.

Relations between India and Canada were already tense after Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s conversation with his Canadian counterpart, Justin Trudeau, at the G20 Summit in Delhi this month. 

The PM expressed India’s “strong concerns about continuing anti-India activities” in that country.

On Monday, Mr Trudeau said his country’s security agencies had information indicating “agents of the Indian government” had assassinated Nijjar, who was a Canadian citizen. 

Nijjar, 45, was shot dead outside a gurdwara in Canada’s British Columbia in June. Hailing from Punjab’ Jalandhar, he was chief of the banned Khalistan Tiger Force and one of India’s most wanted terrorists. There was a Rs 10 lakh cash reward for his capture or information leading to his arrest.

The reward was in connection with the killing of a Hindu priest in Punjab’s Jalandhar. 

Nijjar is also accused in a 2007 bombing case in Punjab and is believed to have ties to recent attacks on Indian diplomatic missions in the United Kingdom, United States and Canada. 

The Indian government “completely rejected” the Canadian PM’s allegations regarding its involvement in Nijjar’s death and underlined its concerns over their (Canada’s) political figures openly expressing sympathy for “such elements”.

“Such unsubstantiated allegations seek to shift focus from Khalistani terrorists and extremists, who have been provided shelter in Canada and continue to threaten India’s sovereignty and territorial integrity. The Canadian government’s inaction has been a long-standing and continuing concern.”

As the row escalated, the two countries each expelled a senior official.

Ottawa ordered a senior official of the Research and Analysis Wing to leave the country and India ejected a diplomat for “interference… in internal matters and involvement in anti-India activities”.

The two nations also exchanged travel advisories.

Canada updated its India advisory this week to mirror that of the United States and it explicitly mentions Jammu and Kashmir and the northeast, warning of “violent clashes between militants and security forces in the former” and “ethnic tensions” leading to “conflict and civil unrest”in the latter.

On Wednesday, shortly after External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar met PM Modi in the new Parliament building, India advised its citizens in Canada, and those contemplating travelling, to exercise “utmost caution” in view of anti-India activities and “politically-condoned” hate crimes.

New Delhi:

Khalistani terrorist Sukhdool Singh, also known as Sukha Duneke, was killed in Canada today in inter-gang violence, sources said. Duneke was part of the Khalistan movement in Canada.

Duneke was a “Category A” gangster from Punjab’s Moga who fled to Canada on a fake passport in 2017. He was a close associate of terrorist Arshdeep Dalla and is one of 43 gangsters with links to Khalistan and Canada mentioned in the list released by the anti-terror agency NIA yesterday.

Duneke’s killing comes in the backdrop of a huge diplomatic row between India and Canada after Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau told the House of Commons earlier this week that his government had “credible allegations” that linked Indian government agents to the killing of Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar on Canadian soil in June.

India and Canada have expelled a senior diplomat each following Mr Trudeau’s accusations. India has denied the allegations, calling them “absurd” and “motivated.”

Nijjar, 45, was an Indian terrorist and chief of the banned Khalistan Tiger Force (KTF), and was assassinated outside a gurdwara in Surrey, British Columbia, on June 18. He was one of India’s most wanted terrorists who carried a cash reward of Rs 10 lakh.

Yesterday, India issued a travel advisory for its citizens in Canada, a day after Canada updated its own advisory for India. India’s strong travel advisory warned of growing anti-India activity and “politically condoned hate crimes.” The advisory urged Indian citizens in Canada and those planning to travel there to exercise caution.

“In view of growing anti-India activities and politically-condoned hate crimes and criminal violence in Canada, all Indian nationals there and those contemplating travel are urged to exercise utmost caution.  Recently, threats have particularly targeted Indian diplomats and sections of the Indian community who oppose the anti-India agenda,’ read India’s advisory. 

The Canadian government today rejected India’s travel advisory, saying that it is one of the safest countries in the world. 

Amid this standoff between the two nations, Punjab Police today launched a statewide crackdown on the associates of gangster Goldy Brar, who is accused of killing singer Sidhu Moosewala. 

According to the police, Brar has close links to the Khalistani separatist movement and is believed to be hiding in Canada. 

New Delhi:

Amid the India-Canada diplomatic standoff, US Ambassador to India, Eric Garcetti has said that perpetrators should be brought to justice and that there should be a space for investigation before a judgement is made.

Speaking at Ananta Centre in New Delhi in a conversation with senior journalist Indrani Bagchi, Mr Garcetti said, “Those who are responsible must be held accountable. We hope that traditional friends and partners will cooperate in getting to the bottom of it.”

He said, “We care deeply for Canada just as we care deeply for India. And I think that moments like this don’t define our relationship. But they certainly can slow down progress. And they’re gut checks for everybody to say how do we interact with each other? What do we stand for? How do we enforce ideas like sovereignty and international law?And what are our responsibilities to one another? And I’m sure somebody’s going to ask that question.”

“So let me just kind of say more of a statement that obviously any allegations like this should be troubling to anyone. But with an active criminal investigation, I hope that we can make sure that perpetrators are brought to justice and that we can all allow the space for that information and that investigation to occur before anybody leaps to judgment. And to me, that’s the most important role. I think to each one of us sovereignty is a very important principle,” he added.

Responding to a question on whether Canada has shared any evidence to the US, the US envoy stated, “As I said… I think that people need to have the space and the place for, if there is evidence, I will say that of course we are in close communication with Canada. Canada is a dear friend, ally, partner and neighbour.”

“Not just in moments like this, but all the time. we speak regularly, we share information..but that doesn’t mean i have everything that everybody is speaking about,” he said.

Relations between India, and Canada have grown tense after Justin Trudeau on Monday alleged that the Indian government was behind the fatal shooting of Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar.

Nijjar, who was a designated terrorist in India and was gunned down outside a Gurdwara, in Canada’s Surrey, British Columbia on June 18.

Earlier on Tuesday, US National Security Council Spokesperson John Kirby said that “serious allegations” were levelled by Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau against India in the killing of Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar adding that the US wanted the matter to be handled in a “transparent” way.

In an interview with CBS News, an American television news channel, Kirby urged India to cooperate in the investigation.

Meanwhile, Indian nationals, students in Canada and those planning on travelling to the country have been advised to exercise caution amid the recent strain in relations between the two countries.

Indian students in Canada have been particularly advised to exercise extreme caution and remain vigilant.

The MEA said in view of growing anti-India activities and politically condoned hate crimes and criminal violence in Canada, all Indian nationals there and those contemplating travel are urged to exercise utmost caution.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)