Justin Trudeau told Parliament that he brought up the slaying with Indian PM Narendra Modi at the G-20 last week
Toronto: Canada has expelled a top Indian diplomat on Monday, Sept 18, as it investigates what Prime Minister Justin Trudeau called credible allegations that India’s government may have had links to the assassination in Canada of a Sikh activist, an AP report in The Tribune, Chandigarh, says.
Trudeau said in Parliament that Canadian intelligence agencies had been looking into the allegations.,
Canadian Foreign Minister Mélanie Joly said the head of Indian intelligence in Canada had been expelled as a consequence.
A strong supporter of an independent Sikh homeland known as Khalistan, Hardeep Singh Nijjar, was gunned down on June 18, outside a Sikh temple in Surrey, British Columbia.
Trudeau informed Parliament that he had brought up the issue with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the G-20 last week. He said he told Modi that any Indian government involvement would be unacceptable and that he asked for cooperation in the investigation.
“If proven true this would be a great violation of our sovereignty and of the most basic rule of how countries deal with each other,” Joly said. “As a consequence we have expelled a top Indian diplomat.”
The Indian Embassy in Ottawa did not immediately respond to phone calls from The Associated Press seeking comment.
The expulsion comes as relations between Canada and India are tense. Trade talks have been derailed and Canada just cancelled a trade mission to India
At the G-20 meeting, Modi expressed “strong concerns” over Canada’s handling of the Sikh independence movement during a meeting with Trudeau at the G-20, according to a statement released by India’s Ministry of External Affairs.
The statement described the Sikh movement as “promoting secessionism and inciting violence” against Indian diplomats.
Canada has a Sikh population of more than 770,000, or about 2 per cent of its total population.
“Over the past number of weeks, Canadian security agencies have been actively pursuing credible allegations of a potential link between agents of the government of India and the killing of a Canadian citizen, Hardeep Singh Nijjar,” Trudeau said.
Trudeau said “In the strongest possible terms I continue to urge the government of India to cooperate with Canada to get to the bottom of this matter,” he said.
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