India – Canada Ties Plunge to New Low, India Withdraws High Commissioner and other Senior Diplomats in Ottawa
Manas Dasgupta
NEW DELHI, Oct 14: Plunging the ties between the two countries further down, India in a dramatic turn of events on Monday decided to withdraw its High Commissioner and other senior diplomats and officials in Ottawa who were earlier named the “persons of interest” by the Canadian government in the 2023 killing of pro-Khalistan figure Hardeep Singh Nijjar in British Columbia.
The announcement was made soon after the Secretary (East) of the Ministry of External Affairs summoned Stewart Wheeler, Chargé d’affaires of the High Commission of Canada in Delhi on Monday evening and said the recent actions of the Justin Trudeau government had “endangered” the “safety” of the Indian diplomats stationed in Canada.
“We have no faith in the current Canadian Government’s commitment to ensure their security,” the government conveyed to the Canadian Charge d’Affaires. “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,” the foreign ministry said.
The latest dip in the ties comes just days after Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s meeting with Justin Trudeau on the sidelines of the ASEAN Summit in Laos. While Trudeau described the meeting as a “brief exchange,” sources in New Delhi said there was no substantive discussion between the two leaders.
“We have no faith in the current Canadian Government’s commitment to ensure their security,” the government conveyed to the Canadian Charge d’Affaires who was summoned by the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) this evening.
“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,” the foreign ministry said.
The Foreign Ministry received a “diplomatic communication from Canada on Sunday suggesting that the Indian High Commissioner and other diplomats are ‘persons of interest’ in a matter related to an investigation in that country.”
In an unusually sharp response, India on Monday refuted the “diplomatic communication” from Canada in which the Indian High Commissioner Sanjay Kumar Verma and other Indian diplomats were described as “persons of interest” in the case of June 2023 murder of pro-Khalistan activist Hardeep Singh Nijjar. The Ministry of External Affairs described the Canadian allegations as “preposterous imputations” arguing that the matter was linked with the political challenges that the Trudeau government is facing on the domestic front in Canada.
“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,” declared the Ministry of External Affairs in a statement.
The Canadian diplomatic team here was conveyed that India could take further steps in safeguarding its interests. “India reserves the right to take further steps in response to the Trudeau Government’s support for extremism, violence and separatism against India,” said the MEA.
The MEA came out in support of the Indian High Commissioner Verma describing him as India’s “senior most serving diplomat” with a career of 36 years saying, “He has been Ambassador in Japan and Sudan, while also serving in Italy, Turkiye, Vietnam and China. The aspersions cast on him are ludicrous and deserve to be treated with contempt.”
Hardeep Singh Nijjar was found murdered by a group of unknown assailants on 18 June 2023. Subsequently, in September, soon after his return to Ottawa after attending the G20 summit in New Delhi, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau had announced in the House of Commons that “Indian agents” were behind the killing of Mr Nijjar who worked in the Guru Nanak Gurdwara of Surrey, British Columbia in Canada.
Bilateral ties took a hit and subsequently India froze visa facilities for Canadian citizens and additionally in October 2023, as many as 41 Canadian diplomats were withdrawn from Canada’s missions in India. Canada’s Foreign Minister Melanie Joly had described India’s demand as violative of the Vienna Convention. India had denied that charge saying that the staff representation had to follow the principle of reciprocity. The freeze in visa processing was enforced till about November 2023 in view of the threats to Indian diplomats issued by extremist pro-Khalistan elements, the MEA had said.
The Indian statement declared that since Prime Minister Trudeau’s sensational accusation against Indian officials in September 2023, Ottawa has not shared a “shred of evidence” regarding the Nijjar case with India. “This leaves little doubt that on the pretext of an investigation, there is a deliberate strategy of smearing India for political gains.”
Monday’s statement accuses Prime Minister Trudeau of providing space to “violent extremists and terrorists” who have harassed and threatened Indian diplomats and community leaders in Canada. These actions, the MEA said were justified by the Canadian authorities “in the name of freedom of speech.” India alleged that “certain individuals” who entered Canada illegally have been “fast-tracked for citizenship” and that Canada has disregarded India’s extradition requests aimed at terrorists who are residing in Canada.
The MEA traced instances from 2018 when PM Trudeau had visited India and said his ministerial council had in the past included violent and secessionist elements who wanted to undermine India’s interest. The MEA said the statement came right ahead of PM Trudeau’s appearance before a commission on foreign interference. “It also serves the anti-India separatist agenda that the Trudeau Government has constantly pondered to for narrow political gains,” said the MEA.
PM Modi and Trudeau’s first meeting after Canada raised allegations regarding Nijjar’s death was on the sidelines of the G7 Summit in Italy in June this year. India has been maintaining that the main issue between the two countries is that of Canada – home to around 7,70,000 Sikhs – giving space to pro-Khalistan elements “operating from their soil with impunity.” Mr Trudeau has insisted that his stand on the matter remains the same.
