18 September, Ottawa In a fresh blow to bilateral relations, Canada announced on Monday that it was “actively pursuing credible allegations” that Indian government agents were responsible for the slaying of a Sikh separatist leader in British Columbia in June.
Canada suspects India involved in Sikh murder: In an urgent statement to the House of Commons, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau referred to any involvement of a foreign government in the death of a Canadian person as “an unacceptable violation of our sovereignty.”
On June 18, unknown assailants shot and killed Hardeep Singh Nijjar, 45, in Surrey, a Vancouver suburb with a sizable Sikh population. India had labeled Nijjar a “terrorist” in July 2020, and he had been advocating for a Khalistani state to serve as a Sikh homeland.
According to Trudeau, “Canadian security agencies have been actively pursuing credible allegations of a potential link between agents of the government of India” and Nijar’s passing.
On the fringes of the G20 conference in New Delhi last week, he claimed to have brought up the murder directly with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. He encouraged the Indian government to “cooperate with Canada to get to the bottom of this matter.”
The highest ranking intelligence and security authorities of the Indian government have been informe of Canada’s grave concerns. I personally and directly brought them to Prime Minister Modi last week at the G20, he claimed.
The top intelligence agent for India in Canada was also expell on Monday, Foreign Minister Melanie Joly announced without going into further detail. Requests for feedback from the Indian high commission in Ottawa went unanswered.
New Delhi, the world’s largest democracy, is upset over Sikh separatist activity in Canada, and Trudeau’s remarks indicate a significant escalation in hostilities between Canada and New Delhi.
At the G20 conference, Modi expressed to Trudeau his grave concerns regarding recent Sikh protests in Canada seeking for an independent state.
TIES IN TRADE
Trade relations are now at risk due to the political tensions, since negotiations on a potential trade agreement have halted. Canada has provided little information regarding the deadlock, although India has noted “certain political developments.”
Out of Canada’s total C$1.52 trillion in trade in 2022, only C$13.7 billion ($10.2 billion) was transacte bilaterally.
The U.S. National Security Council’s Adrienne Watson expressed her serious concern over the allegations in a statement late on Monday night. “We deeply concern about the allegations referenced by Prime Minister Trudeau earlier today,” she added.
Trudeau avoided specifically blaming India for the assassination, and later Foreign Minister Joly adopted more circumspect language, stating the accusations would be unacceptable “if proven true.”
The Integrated Homicide Investigation Team of British Columbia reported last month that three suspects were identified, but no arrests have been made.
Outside of their home state of Punjab in India, Sikhs are most numerous in Canada, which has also hosted numerous protests that India has taken offence over.
Out of the 40 million people that live in Canada, roughly 1.4 million are of Indian descent, making it one of the largest overseas Indian groups. In the 2021 census, almost 770,000 people identified Sikhism as their religion.
Several senior Canadian government officials recently travelled to India, according to Public Safety Minister Dominic LeBlanc, to underscore Ottawa’s concerns.
India requested tighter monitoring of Sikh separatist movement sympathisers in the UK from Britain in April. After demonstrators carrying “Khalistan” banners tore down the Indian flag from the diplomatic mission’s premises in London, New Delhi was furious.