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Informist, Monday, Oct. 14, 2024

 

NEW DELHI - The Indian government has expelled six Canadian diplomats amid rising diplomatic tensions between the two countries over the probe into the killing of Khalistani separatist leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar in Canada.

 

The Ministry of External Affairs said in a statement issued Monday that Canadian Acting High Commissioner Stewart Ross Wheeler, Deputy High Commissioner Patrick Hebert, First Secretary Marie Catherine Joly, First Secretary lan Ross David Trites, First Secretary Adam James Chuipka, and First Secretary Paula Orjuela have been asked to leave India by or before 2359 IST on Saturday. 

 

Earlier in the day, the government decided to withdraw its High Commissioner Sanjay Kumar Verma and other "targeted diplomats and officials" from Canada, citing lack of faith in the "current Canadian government's commitment to ensure their security" as the reason for the move. It said it took the decision after the "baseless targeting of the diplomats and officials in Canada" in connection with the killing of Nijjar. 

 

The Ministry of External Affairs also summoned the Canadian Charge d’Affaires and told him that the baseless targeting of Indian diplomats in Canada was "completely unacceptable". The Indian government underlined that in an atmosphere of extremism and violence, the Justin Trudeau-led government's actions endangered the safety of Indian diplomats. "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 ministry said in the release. 

 

Earlier in the day, the government "strongly" rejected Canada's claims that Verma and other diplomats are "persons of interest" in the investigation into the murder of separatist leader Nijjar and called it a deliberate strategy of "smearing India for political gains". "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. India now reserves the right to take further steps in response to these latest efforts of the Canadian government to concoct allegations against Indian diplomats," the ministry said in a statement.

 

The ministry said that it received communication from Canada on Sunday "suggesting that Indian diplomats are persons of interest in a matter related to the investigation". The ministry said that since Prime Minister Trudeau's allegation in September last year that Indian agents had a role in the killing of the Khalistani separatist leader, the Canadian government has not shared a shred of evidence with the Indian government despite many requests.

 

The foreign affairs ministry called the fresh charge a deliberate strategy of "smearing India for political gains." "Prime Minister Trudeau's hostility to India has long been in evidence. In 2018, his visit to India, which was aimed at currying favour with a vote bank, rebounded to his discomfort. His Cabinet has included individuals who have openly associated with an extremist and separatist agenda regarding India. His naked interference in Indian internal politics in December 2020 showed how far he was willing to go in this regard," the ministry said.

 

India-Canada relations suffered a major setback in September last year when Trudeau alleged that the Indian government had a hand in the assassination of Nijjar, a Canada-based Khalistan separatist whom New Delhi has designated as a terrorist. However, India since rejected the charges as absurd and motivated. The Canadian authorities have also arrested four Indian nationals in connection with the murder of Nijjar.  End

 

IST, or Indian Standard Time, is five-and-a-half hours ahead of GMT

 

Reported by Kuldeep Singh

Edited by Tanima Banerjee

 

 

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