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Diplomatic tensions between India and Canada reached a new high on Oct. 14, after New Delhi decided to withdraw its High Commissioner, Sanjay Kumar Verma, and other “targeted diplomats”.

The targeting relates to Canada claiming that Verma and some other diplomats were “persons of interest” in an ongoing investigation. It is construed the case is about the murder of pro-Khalistan activist Hardeep Singh Nijjar.

The Ministry of External Affairs summoned Canada’s Charge d’Affaires Stewart Wheeler Oct. 14 evening and conveyed the message.  He was told that “targeting of the Indian High Commissioner and other diplomats and officials in Canada was completely unacceptable,” the ministry of external affairs said in a statement.

The ministry said, “It was underlined that in an atmosphere of extremism and violence, the Trudeau Government's actions endangered their safety. 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.” 

“It was also conveyed that India reserves the right to take further steps in response to the Trudeau Government’s support for extremism, violence and separatism against India,” the ministry said.

Canadian Charge d'Affaires Stewart Wheeler told the media, "Canada has provided credible, irrefutable evidence of ties between agents of the Government of India and the murder of a Canadian citizen on Canadian soil." The Canadian diplomat maintained that “it is in the interest of both our countries and the people of our countries to get to the bottom of this. Canada stands ready to cooperate with India.”

Tensions flared after Ottawa on Oct. 13 informed New Delhi that the Indian High Commissioner and a few other diplomats were being treated as “persons of interest” in an on-going investigation.  The probe was into the June 2023 killing of pro-Khalistani activist Nijjar. The ministry responded to the charge, saying it was “baseless” and a “preposterous imputation”.

India suggested that the matter was linked with the political challenges that the Trudeau government is facing on the domestic front in Canada.

The Ministry of External Affairs issued a statement in which it said, “We have received a diplomatic communication from Canada yesterday suggesting that the Indian High Commissioner and other diplomats are ‘persons of interest’ in a matter related to an investigation in that country. The Government of India strongly rejects these preposterous imputations and ascribes them to the political agenda of the Trudeau Government that is centred around vote bank politics.” 

The statement wondered why Canada had not yet provided any evidence. “Since Prime Minister Trudeau made certain allegations in September 2023, the Canadian Government has not shared a shred of evidence with the Government of India, despite many requests from our side. This latest step follows interactions that have again witnessed assertions without any facts. This leaves little doubt that on the pretext of an investigation, there is a deliberate strategy of smearing India for political gains.”

The statement described the accusations by Trudeau as acts of “hostility”. “Prime Minister Trudeau’s hostility to India has long been in evidence. In 2018, his visit to India, which was aimed at currying favour with a vote bank, rebounded to his discomfort. His Cabinet has included individuals who have openly associated with an extremist and separatist agenda regarding India. His naked interference in Indian internal politics in December 2020 showed how far he was willing to go in this regard.”

The ministry charged the Canadian leadership of hobnobbing with the Khalistani ideologues. “That his Government was dependent on a political party, whose leader openly espouses a separatist ideology vis-à-vis India, only aggravated matters. Under criticism for turning a blind eye to foreign interference in Canadian politics, his Government has deliberately brought in India in an attempt to mitigate the damage. This latest development targeting Indian diplomats is now the next step in that direction. It is no coincidence that it takes place as Prime Minister Trudeau is to depose before a Commission on foreign interference. It also serves the anti-India separatist agenda that the Trudeau Government has constantly pandered to for narrow political gains.”

Charging the leadership of “consciously” providing space to “violent extremists and terrorists to harass, threaten and intimidate Indian diplomats and community leaders in Canada”, the statement said, “all these activities have been justified in the name of freedom of speech. Some individuals who have entered Canada illegally have been fast-tracked for citizenship”. It added: “Multiple extradition requests from the Government of India in respect of terrorists and organized crime leaders living in Canada have been disregarded.”

Backing the Indian High Commissioner to Canada, the statement said “Sanjay Kumar Verma is India’s senior most serving diplomat with a distinguished career spanning 36 years” and “has been Ambassador in Japan and Sudan, while also serving in Italy, Turkiye, Vietnam and China”. The “aspersions cast on him by the Government of Canada are ludicrous and deserve to be treated with contempt”.