EXPLAINER
Canada accuses Indian authorities brokers of being concerned in ‘serious criminal activity’, a declare India rejects.
A protracted-simmering diplomatic dispute between India and Canada has reignited, with the 2 nations saying the expulsion of diplomats amid accusations that Indian authorities brokers had been concerned in actions that threaten the security of Canadians.
The newest row started on Monday when India’s Ministry of Exterior Affairs mentioned it had acquired “diplomatic communication” from Canada indicating that Indian diplomats had been being thought-about “persons of interest” in relation to an investigation within the North American nation.
Relations between New Delhi and Ottawa hit new lows final yr after the Canadian authorities mentioned it was investigating a hyperlink between Indian authorities brokers and the killing of a Sikh separatist chief, Hardeep Singh Nijjar, on Canada’s west coast.
New Delhi has denied any involvement in Nijjar’s killing, reiterating on Monday that it “strongly” rejected the “preposterous imputations” from Canada and could be withdrawing its diplomats and different officers from the nation.
However hours later, the Canadian authorities mentioned federal police had uncovered proof that Indian brokers had been concerned in actions that threaten public security in Canada and it mentioned it was expelling six Indian diplomats.
Right here’s what we all know concerning the deepening diplomatic row, what Canada and India have mentioned concerning the matter, and what may occur subsequent:
What has Canada mentioned?
- Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau mentioned on Monday that the federal Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) uncovered “clear and compelling evidence” that Indian authorities brokers have engaged, and proceed to interact, in actions that threaten public security.
- “This includes clandestine information-gathering techniques, coercive behaviour targeting South Asian Canadians, and involvement in over a dozen threatening and violent acts, including murder,” Trudeau mentioned throughout a information convention.
- Earlier within the day, the RCMP mentioned it had discovered proof of the involvement of Indian authorities brokers “in serious criminal activity in Canada”, together with hyperlinks “to homicides and violent acts” and interference in democratic processes, amongst different issues.
- “This evidence was presented directly to Government of India officials, urging their cooperation in stemming the violence and requesting our law enforcement agencies work together to address these issues,” the RCMP mentioned in an announcement.
- Canada’s international affairs division, World Affairs Canada, then introduced that six Indian diplomats and consular officers had been being expelled from the nation “in relation to a targeted campaign against Canadian citizens by agents linked to the Government of India”.
- India’s excessive commissioner to Canada was amongst these directed to depart.
- In an announcement, Minister of Overseas Affairs Melanie Joly instantly tied the Indian officers to Nijjar’s case: “The decision to expel these individuals was made with great consideration and only after the RCMP gathered ample, clear and concrete evidence which identified six individuals as persons of interest in the Nijjar case,” she mentioned.
What has India mentioned?
- India’s Ministry of Exterior Affairs vehemently rejected Canada’s allegations, saying in an announcement on Monday that “on the pretext of an investigation, there is a deliberate strategy of smearing India for political gains”.
- The ministry additionally mentioned that the Canadian authorities “has not shared a shred of evidence” with the Indian authorities, “despite many requests from our side”.
- Later, the ministry mentioned it had summoned Canada’s cost d’affaires in India to tell him that “the baseless targeting of the Indian High Commissioner and other diplomats and officials in Canada was completely unacceptable”.
- “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 mentioned, including that New Delhi “reserves the right to take further steps” in response.
- Then – in a tit-for-tat transfer – the ministry introduced that it was expelling six Canadian diplomats from India, together with the performing excessive commissioner, and was giving them till the top of the day on October 19 to depart India.
How did India-Canada ties attain this level?
- Tensions between the 2 nations skyrocketed in September 2023 after Trudeau introduced that Canadian authorities had been investigating “credible allegations of a potential link” between Indian authorities brokers and the killing of Nijjar, a Canadian citizen.
- Nijjar was fatally shot on June 18, 2023, exterior a Sikh temple the place he served as president, in Surrey, British Columbia. He had been a number one advocate in what is called the Khalistan motion, a Sikh marketing campaign for a sovereign state in India’s Punjab area.
- Whereas largely dormant inside India itself, Sikh separatism is basically considered as a menace by the Indian authorities, which has urged Western nations to crack down on Khalistan motion leaders within the diaspora.
- India vehemently denied the allegations that it was concerned in Nijjar’s killing, calling them “absurd”. It additionally accused Nijjar of being concerned in “terrorism” – a declare rejected by his supporters.
- After Canada’s accusations had been first made public, the 2 nations withdrew their respective diplomats and India additionally put a freeze on diplomatic providers for Canadians.
- The tensions boiled over once more in Might 2024 when Canadian police mentioned they’d arrested three males – all Indian nationals – accused of being concerned in Nijjar’s killing. The RCMP mentioned on the time that it was additionally “investigating if there are any ties to the government of India”.
- A fourth man, additionally an Indian nationwide, was arrested and charged in Nijjar’s killing later that month.
- New Delhi rejected the developments in Canada, with Minister of Exterior Affairs Subrahmanyam Jaishankar saying the nation had a “political compulsion” accountable India.
What comes subsequent?
- It stays to be seen if India, as its international ministry mentioned on Monday, would take “further steps” in response to Canada’s accusations – and if it does, what these steps may entail.
- Stephanie Carvin, a political analyst and professor at Carleton College within the Canadian capital of Ottawa, mentioned the newest accusations by Canada had been “very serious” and risked additional hampering relations with India. That “puts Canada in a difficult position”, she mentioned.
- “We’re in a time where we see countries around the world – the European Union, the United States, Australia … trying to develop their relations with India. This kind of puts us offside all of the other allies that we have,” she instructed Al Jazeera.
- Virtually, Carvin additionally famous that Canada is dwelling to a sizeable South Asian inhabitants and numerous Indian college students research within the nation as properly. “These Indian [nationals], they do need consular services, they need diplomatic representation in this country,” she mentioned.
- Sikh Canadians instructed Al Jazeera over the previous yr that their group – which numbers about 770,000 individuals throughout Canada and makes up the biggest Sikh diaspora exterior India – had considerations about Indian state interference.
- The World Sikh Group of Canada, a nonprofit that advocates for the group, mentioned it welcomed the Canadian authorities’s announcement on Monday and demanded “the full prosecution of all individuals involved” in Nijjar’s killing, together with Indian diplomats.
- “The Government of India’s ongoing foreign interference activities in Canada and its history of targeting Sikhs in this country is only now becoming known to the general public but has been the lived experience of Sikhs for the past four decades,” the group mentioned.
