Canada withdraws 41 diplomats from India amid row over Sikh activist’s killing

Americas, Asia-Pacific, News October 20, 2023 , by IRIA No Comments

Canada has scaled down its diplomatic mission in India after the growing rift between Ottawa and New Delhi. At least 41 Canadian diplomats and their dependents left India amid the tensions over the killing of a Sikh activist and separatist political leader.

The exodus of diplomatic officials from India comes after New Delhi threatened to strip Canadian officials of their diplomatic immunity as it demanded a reduction of Canadian diplomatic staff on Indian soil. Canada’s Foreign Affairs Minister Melanie Joly called India’s demands a breach of international law.

“A unilateral revocation of diplomatic privileges and immunities is contrary to international law,” Joly said at a news conference in Ottawa. She emphasized that India could opt to expel the diplomats and declare them “persona non grata,” as it is normally done during international disputes. But threatening to strip the officials of their diplomatic immunity signals that New Delhi was planning to wrongfully detain Canadian diplomats.

“Threatening to do so is unreasonable and escalatory. If we allow the norm of diplomatic immunity to be broken, no diplomats anywhere would be safe,” she said. Canada has now a staff of only 21 diplomatic officials left in India.

India-Canada relations

Relations between the two countries took a toll after Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has accused the Indian government of being involved in the killing of Sikh separatist leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar. Trudeau said that authorities were pursuing “credible allegations” that agents of the Indian government were behind the murder of a Sikh leader.

About 2 million Canadians, approximately 5% of the overall population, have Indian heritage. Canada is also home to about 770,000 Sikhs, or 2% of the country’s population, with a substantially vocal group calling for creating a separate state of Khalistan.

Guru Nanak Sikh Gurdwara temple sign — ^{A sign outside the Guru Nanak Sikh Gurdwara temple is seen after the killing on its grounds in June 2023 of Sikh leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar, in Surrey, British Columbia, Canada, on September 18, 2023. (Image Credit: Reuters/Chris Helgren)}

Last month, India expelled a Canadian diplomat, in a tit-for-tat move after Canada accused one of its diplomats of being involved in the assassination of a Sikh activist on its soil. The expelled Indian diplomat was the head of the Indian intelligence in Canada.

Who was Hardeep Singh Nijjar?

Hardeep Singh Nijjar was the figurehead of the Sikh movement that demanded the independence of India’s Punjab. He was an outspoken supporter of the creation of a separate Sikh homeland known as Khalistan. The Indian government had labeled Nijjar as a terrorist for leading a separatist movement. The Khalistan movement is outlawed in India and considered a national security threat.

In 2016, Interpol accused Nijjar as the key culprit behind the 2007 bombing of a cinema in India’s Punjab. The Indian government had also accused Nijjar of recruiting and fundraising for anti-Indian movements, a charge that he denied.

The 45-year-old Canadian citizen and Sikh leader, Hardeep Singh Nijjar, was killed in a shooting on June 28, 2023, outside a Sikh temple in British Colombia. He was serving as the president of the temple. Indian authorities had announced a cash reward last year for information leading to Nijjar’s arrest.

However, Nijjar’s supporters reject the terrorist label, calling it an effort to smear Nijjar’s name. His death has deeply upset and angered the Sikh community in Canada. World Sikh Organization of Canada, a group that represents the interests of the Sikh community, said Nijjar spoke of “threats to his life” before his murder.