Canada and India expel each other’s diplomats in escalating dispute over an assassination

Canada and India each expelled six diplomats on Monday in tit-for-tat moves as part of an escalating dispute over the June 2023 assassination of a Sikh activist in Canada.

A senior Canadian government official said Canada was expelling six Indian diplomats, including the high commissioner, after police uncovered evidence of continuing violent criminal activity linked to the Indian government.

Shortly afterwards, the Indian foreign ministry said it was expelling six Canadian diplomats. It had said earlier on Monday that India was withdrawing its diplomats, after rejecting Canada’s notification that the Indian ambassador was a “person of interest” in the assassination.

A second senior Canadian official said Canada expelled the Indian diplomats first before they withdrew. Both officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to speak publicly on the matter.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau last year said there were credible allegations that the Indian government had links to the June 2023 assassination in Canada of Sikh activist Hardeep Singh Nijjar.

India has rejected the accusation as absurd.

In response to the allegations, India told Canada last year to remove 41 of its 62 diplomats in the country. Ever since, the relations between the two countries have been frosty.