Just this week at the UN General Assembly, Canada and India have exchanged serious accusations. At the center of the conflict is the shooting death of a Canadian citizen and Sikh leader on Canadian territory, allegedly perpetrated, according to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, by agents sent by the government of President Narendra Modi.
This seems to confirm António Guterres, Secretary-General of the United Nations Organization, who said in his opening speech of the commemoration of diplomacy: “The world is unbalanced.”
Hardeep Singh Nijjar, 45, was killed in a shooting outside a Sikh temple in Surrey, British Columbia on June 18. Nijjar supported the creation of an independent nation in the state of Khalistan, which would incorporate part of Punjab. New Delhi described him as a “terrorist” and considered him the head of a military separatist group, a circumstance that he and his followers deny.
At the time, the Canadian Mounted Police explained that Nijjar was the victim of an ambush by some hooded men, but did not reveal whether it had been a politically motivated crime.
Three months later, Trudeau announced on Monday, no less than in the solemn framework of the House of Commons (parliament), that Canadian national security has credible information linking this operation to agents sent by the executive of India to perpetrate the murder of a Canadian citizen on Canadian territory.
“Any involvement of a foreign government in the death of a Canadian citizen on Canadian soil is an unacceptable violation of our sovereignty,” Trudeau stressed. “This is totally against the fundamental rules of the free and open conduct of democratic societies”, he insisted.
The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mélanie Joly, explained shortly afterwards that they had ordered the expulsion of a diplomat from the Indian mission, whom she described as the person most responsible for Indian espionage on Canadian soil. He assured that there was a link between this diplomat and the murder.
The response from New Delhi was not long in coming. He gave a Canadian diplomat five days to leave India and return home.
“The allegations of the Indian government’s involvement in an act of violence in Canada are absurd and self-interested,” the Indian Ministry of External Affairs said in a statement. Trudeau already raised these complaints with Narendra Modi at the last G-20 meeting. The Canadian asked Modi for a bilateral meeting to discuss the issue. The Indian refused the request, which was interpreted as a humiliation for Trudeau.
“These baseless accusations – insists the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of India – only seek to move the focus and put it away from the terrorists and extremists of Khalistan who have found refuge in Canada”. He also demands that Ottawa “take legal action soon and effectively against the anti-India elements operating in its territory”.
Trudeau, for his part, required the Indian government to participate in the investigation and cooperate with Canada to “get to the bottom of the matter”. He stressed that many members of the Canadian Indian community feel angry and very scared. “We do not allow this to change us”, he hastened.
“If this accusation is true, it is a scandalous affront to Canada’s sovereignty,” said Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre. “Our citizens must be safe from any kind of extrajudicial execution, many of these by foreign governments,” he revealed.
Canada has the largest Sikh population outside the state of Punjab and the country has been the scene of numerous protests that have angered the Indian government. This North American country has between 1.4 and 1.8 million Canadians born in India or descendants. Most of them are Sikhs. Among them is Jagmmet Singh, leader of the New Democracy party, the opposition group that supports Trudeau, in the minority, to govern.
