Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Monday accused Indian diplomats of backing a pattern of criminal harassment and violence against Canadians, escalating a dispute that began last year, when he suggested Indian agents were involved in the murder of a Canadian Sikh activist in British Columbia.
Canada expelled six officials earlier on Monday after it said India refused to waive their diplomatic immunity for questioning over what Canadian Minister of Foreign Affairs Melanie Joly called “a number of violent incidents” targeting Canada’s South Asian community, particularly Sikhs.
Denying involvement, India has rebuked Canada and expelled six of its senior diplomats.
Photo: AFP
At a news conference in Ottawa, Trudeau laid out the crux of the Canadian government’s case against India. Hours earlier, on the morning of Canada’s Thanksgiving public holiday, the Royal Mounted Canadian Police held an extraordinary briefing to share with the public the fresh allegations implicating Indian government agents.
“It is obvious that 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,” Trudeau said.
The widening rupture between Canada and India could have implications on trade, immigration and other links between the two countries, particularly if the dispute leads to tit-for-tat sanctions or other retaliatory actions.
Asked if sanctions or other measures beyond expelling officials were being considered, Joly said: “Everything is on the table.”
Trudeau and Joly said they had been in touch with their Indian counterparts, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Minister of Foreign Affairs Subrahmanyam Jaishankar.
Joly said she was also in contact with the foreign ministers of Canada’s Five Eyes intelligence-sharing allies: the US, UK, Australia and New Zealand.
US prosecutors in a separate case have accused an Indian government agent of directing a thwarted plot to assassinate a Sikh separatist and US citizen on US soil.
Trudeau said Canadian officials and agencies have tried to work with India’s government, but its response has been “to deny, to obfuscate, to attack me personally and the integrity of the government of Canada.”
Joly said that the “sitting diplomats” were involved in violent acts that increased after Trudeau’s allegation of India’s possible involvement in the murder last year of Hardeep Singh Nijjar, an activist in the movement for an independent state called Khalistan for Sikhs in the Punjab region. India considered him a terrorist.
India on Monday rejected Canada’s claims and said they were politically motivated by Trudeau, accusing his government of baselessly targeting Indian officials and endangering their safety.
“We have no faith in the current Canadian Government’s commitment to ensure their security,” the Indian Ministry of External Affairs said in a statement.
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