Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, in Ottawa, October 14, 2024. JUSTIN TANG / AP The diplomatic crisis between Canada and India, triggered more than a year ago, entered a phase on Monday, October 14. acute with the reciprocal expulsion of senior diplomats. This spectacular escalation came a few hours after the revelations of the Canadian federal police announcing that they had “credible and irrefutable evidence” on “the involvement of agents of the Government of India in serious criminal activities in Canada”, “clandestine activities such as intelligence gathering” and “interference in democratic processes”. The Canadian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mélanie Joly, specified in a press release that she had asked New Delhi to lift the diplomatic immunity of six of its agents, including the ambassador, so that they could be questioned on “a certain number of “Violent incidents targeting members of the South Asian community, particularly the Sikh community, in many cities across the country.” When New Delhi refused, they received an eviction notice. India says they have been recalled. The charges are extremely serious and follow the June 2023 assassination of a Sikh separatist leader on Canadian soil. Hardeep Singh Nijjar was shot dead in the parking lot of the Sikh temple he led in Surrey, a suburb of Vancouver (British Columbia). This Canadian citizen campaigned for the creation of an independent Sikh state in northern India, Khalistan. Read also: Article reserved for our subscribers Canada accuses India of being responsible for the murder of one of its Sikh nationals Add to your selections Ottawa quickly designated India. On September 18, 2023, the head of India’s foreign intelligence agency, the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW), Pavan Kumar Rai, was expelled from Canada. In November 2023, an event gave weight to the Canadian scenario: American justice had in turn accused a RAW agent of having recruited a henchman to try to assassinate Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, a Sikh separatist of American nationality. The plot had failed. “Smear strategy” Police and Canadian authorities now suspect Indian agents of being involved in other criminal acts and violence. According to the Washington Post, India has set up an “operational channel in which Indian diplomats in Canada collect intelligence on suspected Sikh separatists, which is then used by the RAW to identify targets for gang attacks criminal led by Lawrence Bishnoi, imprisoned in India, whose organization is very active in Canada. You have 57.48% of this article left to read. The rest is reserved for subscribers.
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