NEW DELHI (Reuters) -India ordered the expulsion of six Canadian diplomats on Monday and withdrew its personal envoy from Canada, in response to what it stated was Ottawa’s resolution to call him and others as “individuals of curiosity” in an investigation.
India didn’t go into element on the investigation, however relations have been fraught since 2023, when Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau stated he had proof linking Indian brokers to the assassination of a Sikh separatist chief on his territory.
India has lengthy denied Trudeau’s accusation. On Monday it dismissed Canada’s transfer on the inquiry and accused Trudeau of pursuing a “political agenda”.
“Now we have no religion within the present Canadian Authorities’s dedication to make sure their safety. Subsequently, the Authorities of India has determined to withdraw the Excessive Commissioner and different focused diplomats and officers,” India’s international ministry stated in a press release.
It later stated it had requested the six Canadian diplomats to depart by Saturday.
It additionally stated it had summoned Canadian Cost d’Affaires Stewart Wheeler to protest.
Canada’s authorities has not publicly confirmed that it has named any Indian official as an individual of curiosity.
Wheeler on Monday reiterated Trudeau’s accusation, saying in a press release: “Canada has offered credible, irrefutable proof of ties between brokers of the Authorities of India and the homicide of a Canadian citizen on Canadian soil.
“Now, it’s time for India to stay as much as what it stated it will do and look into these allegations.”
India has repeatedly stated Canada has not shared any proof to again its declare.
“This newest step follows interactions which have once more witnessed assertions with none info. This leaves little doubt that on the pretext of an investigation, there’s a deliberate technique of smearing India for political positive aspects,” India’s international ministry stated earlier on Monday.
Canada withdrew greater than 40 diplomats from India in October 2023 after New Delhi requested Ottawa to scale back its diplomatic presence.
In June, a committee of Canadian parliamentarians named India and China as the principle international threats to its democratic establishments, based mostly on enter from intelligence companies.
The U.S. has additionally alleged that Indian brokers had been concerned in an tried assassination plot of one other Sikh separatist chief in New York in 2023, and stated it had indicted an Indian nationwide working on the behest of an unnamed Indian authorities official.
India expressed concern after the U.S. raised the difficulty, dissociating itself from the plot, and has launched an investigation.
The accusations of assassination plots in opposition to Sikh separatist leaders in Canada and the U.S. have examined their relationship with India as they appear to forge deeper ties with the nation to counter China’s rising world affect.