After strongly rejecting Canadian PM Justin Trudeau's 'absurd' accusation, India's External Affairs Ministry (MEA) on Tuesday expelled a senior Canadian diplomat living in India. MEA issued a statement saying that it had summoned the High Commissioner of Canada to India and informed him about the Centre's decision to expel a senior Canadian diplomat over the growing interference of Canadian diplomats in India's internal matters and anti-India activities. Notably, India's decision to expel a senior Canadian diplomat came after Canadian Foreign Minister Melanie Joly informed the media that a senior Indian diplomat has been expelled amid accusations that Indian government played a role in the murder of a Canadian citizen wanted in India, Hardeep Singh Nijjar.
MEA in its statement wrote, "The High Commissioner of Canada to India was summoned today and informed about the decision of the Government of India to expel a senior Canadian diplomat based in India. The concerned diplomat has been asked to leave India within the next five days. The decision reflects the Government of India’s growing concern at the interference of Canadian diplomats in our internal matters and their involvement in anti-India activities."
India expels a senior Canadian Diplomat: https://t.co/TS8LHCUuuY pic.twitter.com/Y0pXq3v1DG
— Arindam Bagchi (@MEAIndia) September 19, 2023
What are Canada's accusations against India?
Addressing the parliament, Canadian PM Justin Trudeau said, "Over the past number of weeks Canadian security agencies have been actively pursuing credible allegations of a potential link between agents of the government of India and the killing of a Canadian citizen, Hardeep Singh Nijjar....Any involvement of a foreign government in the killing of a Canadian citizen on Canadian soil is an unacceptable violation of our sovereignty."
Also Read: Who was Hardeep Nijjar? Pro-Khalistan leader responsible for India-Canada standoff
"In the strongest possible terms I continue to urge the government of India to cooperate with Canada to get to the bottom of this matter," said Canada PM Justin Trudeau. It is pertinent to mention here that Trudeau informed the Canadian Parliament that he brought up the killing with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the G-20 last week. He said he told PM Modi that any Indian government involvement would be unacceptable and that he asked for cooperation in the investigation.
As of now, reports suggest that Public Safety Minister Dominic LeBlanc was quoted saying that Canada's national security adviser and the head of Canada's spy service have travelled to India to meet their counterparts and to confront the Indian intelligence agencies with the allegations.