New Delhi: In a tit-for-tat move, India has announced it was expelling six Canadian diplomats, including the Acting and Deputy High Commissioners, even as it withdrew its own High Commissioner and five other diplomats from Ottawa, as the frosty bilateral ties sunk to its lowest depths over the killing of prominent Indo-Canadian Khalistani activist Hardeep Singh Nijjar last year.
Capping a day full of fast-moving developments, India on Monday late evening announced it was expelling Stewart Ross Wheeler, Acting High Commissioner; Patrick Hebert, Deputy High Commissioner; Marie Catherine Joly, First Secretary; lan Ross David Trites, First Secretary; Adam James Chuipka, First Secretary; and Paula Orjuela, First Secretary.
They have been asked to leave India by or before 11:59 PM on Saturday, October 19, 2024.
Earlier in the evening India decided to withdraw its High Commissioner in Ottawa Sanjay Kumar Verma. The Canadian Charge d’Affaires Stewart Ross Wheeler was summoned by Secretary (East) Dammu Ravi in the evening at South Block, and informed that the “baseless targeting” of the Indian High Commissioner and other diplomats and officials in Canada was completely unacceptable.
It was underlined that in an atmosphere of extremism and violence, the Trudeau Government's actions endangered the safety of the Indian diplomats. India also conveyed that it has “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.
“It was also conveyed that India reserves the right to take further steps in response to the Trudeau Government’s support for extremism, violence and separatism against India.”
The drastic moves came in the wake of a diplomatic communication from Canada on Sunday “suggesting that the Indian High Commissioner and other diplomats are ‘persons of interest’” in the probe related to the killing of Nijjar.
India strongly rejected these preposterous imputations and ascribed them to the political agenda of the Trudeau Government that is centered around vote bank politics, a statement said.
Meanwhile the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) Commissioner Mike Duheme, speaking at a news conference on Monday in Ottawa about “allegations of violent criminal activity linked to agents of the Indian government”, said that among other things, “investigations have revealed that Indian diplomats and consular officials based in Canada leveraged their official position to engage in clandestine activities”.
Earlier in the morning, India slammed Canada for suggesting that the Indian High Commissioner and other diplomats are “persons of interest” in the probe related to the killing of Nijjar last year. New Delhi also said that it “now reserves the right to take further steps” in response to the concocted allegations against Indian diplomats.
The strongly worded statement came just two days after a brief meeting between Canadian PM Justin Trudeau and PM Modi in Vientiane on the sidelines of the East Asia Summit.
The statement also said that the Trudeau government has “not shared a shred of evidence” with India so far on Trudeau’s allegations made in the Canadian parliament last year alleging an Indian hand in the killing of Nijjar.
The statement also said that the Trudeau government’s allegation against India comes as PM Trudeau is set to depose before a Commission on foreign interference, and that it also serves the anti-India separatist agenda that the Trudeau Government has constantly pandered to for narrow political gains.
It said that High Commissioner Sanjay Kumar Verma is India’s senior most serving diplomat with a distinguished career spanning 36 years and the aspersions cast on him by the Government of Canada are ludicrous and deserve to be treated with contempt.
Meanwhile, according to Canadian news outlets, members of PM Trudeau’s own caucus have begun a new effort to persuade him to step down rather than lead the Liberal Party into the next election.
The MEA statement read:
“We have received a diplomatic communication from Canada yesterday suggesting that the Indian High Commissioner and other diplomats are ‘persons of interest’ in a matter related to an investigation in that country. The Government of India strongly rejects these preposterous imputations and ascribes them to the political agenda of the Trudeau Government that is centered around vote bank politics.
“Since Prime Minister Trudeau made certain allegations in September 2023, the Canadian Government has not shared a shred of evidence with the Government of India, despite many requests from our side. This latest step follows interactions that have again witnessed assertions without any facts. This leaves little doubt that on the pretext of an investigation, there is 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. That his Government was dependent on a political party, whose leader openly espouses a separatist ideology vis-à-vis India, only aggravated matters.
“Under criticism for turning a blind eye to foreign interference in Canadian politics, his Government has deliberately brought in India in an attempt to mitigate the damage. This latest development targeting Indian diplomats is now the next step in that direction.
“It is no coincidence that it takes place as Prime Minister Trudeau is to depose before a Commission on foreign interference. It also serves the anti-India separatist agenda that the Trudeau Government has constantly pandered to for narrow political gains.
“To that end, the Trudeau Government has consciously provided space to violent extremists and terrorists to harass, threaten and intimidate Indian diplomats and community leaders in Canada. This has included death threats to them and to Indian leaders. All these activities have been justified in the name of freedom of speech. Some individuals who have entered Canada illegally have been fast-tracked for citizenship. Multiple extradition requests from the Government of India in respect of terrorists and organized crime leaders living in Canada have been disregarded.
“High Commissioner Sanjay Kumar Verma is India’s senior most serving diplomat with a distinguished career spanning 36 years. He has been Ambassador in Japan and Sudan, while also serving in Italy, Turkiye, Vietnam and China. The aspersions cast on him by the Government of Canada are ludicrous and deserve to be treated with contempt.
“The Government of India has taken cognizance of the activities of the Canadian High Commission in India that serve the political agenda of the current regime. This led to the implementation of the principle of reciprocity in regard to diplomatic representation.
“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.”
On Friday, October 11, India had said that “there was no substantive discussion” between Prime Minister Modi and Canadian PM Justin Trudeau in Vientiane, and stressed that Ottawa should take firm action, which has been lacking thus far, against anti-India Khalistani activities on Canadian soil.
This came after Canadian PM Trudeau said at a press conference that he had a "brief exchange" with Prime Minister Modi in Vientiane.
The sources on Friday said that the “growing nexus of Khalistani forces with organized crime, drug syndicates and human trafficking should be a concern for Canada as well”.
The source also said that “India attaches importance to relations with Canada but these cannot be repaired unless the Canadian Government takes strict and verifiable action against those who actively pursue anti-India activities and have conspired to promote hate, disinformation, communal disharmony and violence in India as well as Canada.”
The meeting between the Canadian PM and PM Modi in Vientiane came a year after Trudeau accused the Indian government of involvement in the killing of Khalistani activist Hardeep Singh Nijjar in British Columbia, an allegation that India has rejected.
Trudeau, speaking to the media in Vientiane on the sidelines of the East Asia Summit, said he had “a brief exchange with Prime Minister Modi in which I emphasised that there is work we need to do”.
Elaborating, he said that he had emphasised “that the safety of Canadians, upholding the rule of law, is among the fundamental responsibilities of any Canadian government, and that’s what I’ll stay focused on. Yes, we need to continue to develop our trade ties and our people-to-people ties, but there are real issues that we need to solve here, and we’re going to stay focused on that”, referring to the killing of Nijjar.
Trudeau’s coalition partner is the New Democratic Party (NDP) leader Jagmeet Singh, a known Khalistani supporter.
Nijjar, 45, was shot dead on June 18, 2023, shortly after evening prayers at his Guru Nanak Sikh Gurdwara in Surrey, British Columbia.
Four Indian nationals are accused of first-degree murder and conspiracy in connection to his murder. The case is currently in the Canadian courts.