India tells Canada to remove 41 of its 62 diplomats in the country, an official says

India has issued a directive to Canada, requesting the removal of 41 out of its 62 diplomats currently stationed in India, according to an official source who disclosed this information on Tuesday. This move intensifies an ongoing dispute between the two nations, stemming from Canadian allegations that India may have played a role in the assassination of a Sikh separatist leader in suburban Vancouver.

The source, who spoke on condition of anonymity due to a lack of authorization to comment publicly prior to the Canadian government’s official response, confirmed an earlier report published by the Financial Times. The Ministry of External Affairs in India declined to provide any comments on this matter.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau raised concerns in Parliament last month, asserting the existence of “credible allegations” regarding Indian involvement in the murder of Hardeep Singh Nijjar, a 45-year-old Sikh leader who was fatally shot by masked assailants in Surrey, just outside Vancouver, in June. Nijjar, a Canadian citizen of Indian origin, had long been accused by India of having links to terrorism, an accusation that Nijjar vehemently denied.

The notion of orchestrating the killing of a Canadian citizen on Canadian soil, where there is a substantial population of nearly 2 million people of Indian descent, represents an unprecedented and grave allegation.

India has, for a considerable period, accused Canada of harboring Sikh separatists, including Nijjar. In response, India has canceled visas for Canadian nationals, a move yet to be reciprocated by Canada. In a prior exchange, India expelled a senior Canadian diplomat following Canada’s expulsion of a senior Indian diplomat.

The allegations of India’s involvement in the assassination are partly rooted in the surveillance of Indian diplomats within Canada, with intelligence reportedly provided by a significant ally. A separate Canadian official previously disclosed that these communications encompassed Indian officials and Indian diplomats in Canada, with some of the intelligence shared by a member of the “Five Eyes” intelligence-sharing alliance, which comprises the United States, Britain, Australia, New Zealand, and Canada. This official, too, requested anonymity due to the sensitive nature of the matter.

These recent expulsions by India have exacerbated the strained relations between the two nations. Trudeau’s interactions with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi during the recent Group of 20 summit in New Delhi were notably frosty, and shortly thereafter, Canada canceled a planned trade mission to India slated for the fall.

Hardeep Singh Nijjar, a plumber by profession, also held a prominent position within the remnants of a once-potent movement seeking the establishment of an independent Sikh homeland, known as Khalistan. A violent Sikh insurgency had rocked northern India during the 1970s and 1980s until it was quashed through a government crackdown that claimed the lives of thousands, including prominent Sikh leaders.

Although the Khalistan movement has considerably diminished in political influence, it still garners support in India’s Punjab state and within the substantial overseas Sikh diaspora. While the active insurgency subsided years ago, the Indian government has persistently cautioned about the resurgence efforts of Sikh separatists.

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More about Geopolitical Tensions

• India Asks Canada to Remove 41 Diplomats
• Canadian PM Accuses India of Involvement in Sikh Leader’s Killing
• Background on the Khalistan Movement
• Role of “Five Eyes” Alliance in Surveillance
• Impact of Tensions on India-Canada Relations