Tension between India and Canada have reached peak levels, with the Indian Ministry of External Affairs removing six Canadian diplomats from India and simultaneously withdrawing Indian diplomats from Canada. This fierce action comes in the wake of Canada’s allegation against India over the assassination of a Canadian Sikh Hardeep Singh Nijjar. It is pertinent to mention that Nijjar was born in Jalandar, Punjab, later moved to Canada where he changed the citizenship in 2007. He was involved with the Khalistan movement.
TIMELINE OF EVENTS
It was in September 2023 that tension between India and Canada skyrocketed. Then, hatred sparked when Canadian PM Justin Trudeau announced that Canadian authorities were investigating “credible allegations of a potential link” between Indian government agents and the killing of Nijjar, who was a Canadian citizen.
Nijjar, who was advocating the Khalistan movement, was shot dead on June 18, 2023, outside a Sikh temple in British Columbia where he served as president.
India vehemently denied the allegations that it was involved in Nijjar’s killing, calling them “absurd”. It also accused Nijjar of being involved in “terrorism” – a claim which was bound to be rejected by his supporters. This also led India to put a freeze on diplomatic services for Canadians.
The tension further escalated in May 2024 when Canadian police arrested three Indian nationals and accused them of being involved in Nijjar’s killing. The Royal Canadian Mounted Police, RCMP, even said that it was also “investigating if there are any ties to the govt of India”.
On Oct 14, 2024, Canadian Police (RCMP) even released a statement on "violent criminal activity occurring in Canada with connections to agents of the Government of India". This is what triggered fresh tension.
New Delhi has been rejecting all these claims since forever as it did again yesterday with Foreign Affairs Minister Dr. S. Jaishankar, saying that Canada had a “political compulsion” to blame India; whereas PM Justin Trudeau urged Indian Govt to co-operate with the Canadian authorities on this investigation, terming India’s reaction as ‘fundamental error’.