Ottawa:
Canada on Monday accused Indian involvement in the killing of a Khalistani terrorist last June, and in retaliation expelled New Delhi’s intelligence chief in Ottawa.
The diplomatic move took already soured relations between Ottawa and New Delhi to a dramatic new low.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau told an emergency session of the parliamentary opposition in mid-afternoon that his government had “credible allegations” linking Indian agents to the June killing of Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar in British Columbia.
He called on the Indian government “in the strongest possible terms” to cooperate in clarifying the matter.
Secretary of State Melanie Jolie said the Trudeau government had taken immediate action.
“Today we have expelled a senior Indian diplomat from Canada,” she said, without naming the official.
Ms Jolie said the expelled Indian is the head of the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW), India’s foreign intelligence service, in Canada.
Nijjar, who had been declared a wanted terrorist by India, was shot on June 18 in Surrey, a Vancouver suburb that is home to a large Sikh community.
He was accused of committing terrorist attacks in India.
Tensions between India and Canada are simmering over the unsolved murder, and Indian discontent over Ottawa’s handling of the terrorists.
New Delhi accuses Ottawa of turning a blind eye to the activities of Khalistani supporters.
A former adviser to Trudeau, Jocelyn Coulon, claimed Canada’s accusation would have “the effect of a bomb dropping around the world.”
India will join “the group of countries that murder political opponents” abroad, just as Saudi Arabia orchestrated the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi in Turkey in 2018, said Coulon, who is now an independent researcher.
New Delhi did not immediately respond to Canada’s accusations.
Tensions between the two countries flared further earlier this month during the G20 summit in New Delhi, where Trudeau was present.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi during a meeting with Trudeau expressed “strong concerns over the continued anti-India activities of extremist elements in Canada,” according to a government statement.
Canada recently suspended negotiations on a free trade agreement with India. Trudeau later told the media that Canada would always defend “freedom of expression, freedom of conscience and freedom of peaceful protest” while taking action against hate.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by DailyExpertNews staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)