India’s foreign ministry dismissed the allegation of government involvement as “absurd and motivated”. The ministry’s statement added that Trudeau made similar allegations to Modi at the G20 summit.
“Such unsubstantiated allegations seek to shift the focus from Khalistani terrorists and extremists, who have been provided shelter in Canada and continue to threaten India’s sovereignty and territorial integrity,” the statement noted, referring to a separatist movement that India regards as a security threat.
The expulsion comes at a time of already tense relations between Canada and India. Trade talks have been derailed and Canada has cancelled a trade mission to India that was planned for the northern autumn.
During his meeting with Trudeau at the G20 summit, Modi expressed “strong concerns” over Canada’s handling of the Punjabi independence movement among overseas Sikhs, according to India’s Ministry of External Affairs.
The statement described the Sikh movement as “promoting secessionism and inciting violence” against Indian diplomats. It called on Canada to work with India on what New Delhi said was a threat to the Indian diaspora in Canada.
Canada has a Sikh population of more than 770,000, or about 2 per cent of its total population.
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.”
Canada had declared its deep concerns to the Indian government. “Any involvement of a foreign government in the killing of a Canadian citizen on Canadian soil is an unacceptable violation of our sovereignty.”
Trudeau said his government had been working closely and co-ordinating with Canada’s allies on the case.
“In the strongest possible terms, I continue to urge the government of India to co-operate with Canada to get to the bottom of this matter.”
Public Safety Minister Dominic LeBlanc said Canada’s national security adviser and the head of its spy service had travelled to India to meet their counterparts and to confront the Indian intelligence agencies with the allegations.
He called it an active homicide investigation led by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.
Joly said Trudeau also raised the matter with US President Joe Biden and UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.
“We are deeply concerned about the allegations referenced by Prime Minister Trudeau,” White House National Security Council spokesperson Adrienne Watson said. “We remain in regular contact with our Canadian partners. It is critical that Canada’s investigation proceed and the perpetrators be brought to justice.”
Jagmeet Singh, a Sikh who leads Canada’s opposition New Democratic Party, called the allegations outrageous and shocking. He said he grew up hearing stories that challenging India’s record on human rights might prevent you from getting a visa to travel there.
“But to hear the prime minister of Canada corroborate a potential link between a murder of a Canadian citizen on Canadian soil by a foreign government is something I could never have imagined.”
The Khalistan movement is banned in India, where officials see it and affiliated groups as a national security threat. But the movement still has some support in northern India, as well as beyond in countries like Canada and the UK, which are home to sizeable Sikh populations.
Nijjar was organising an unofficial referendum in India for an independent Sikh state at the time of this death. Indian authorities announced a cash reward last year for information leading to his arrest, accusing him of involvement in an alleged attack on a Hindu priest in India.
British Columbia Premier David Eby said he had received a briefing from Canada’s spy agency about the “assassination” of Nijjar and he was “deeply disturbed” by what he was told.
He called on the Canadian government to share all information related to ongoing foreign interference and “transnational organised crime threats”.
The World Sikh Organisation of Canada called Nijjar an outspoken supporter of Khalistan, who “often led peaceful protests against the violation of human rights actively taking place in India and in support of Khalistan”.
“Nijjar had publicly spoken of the threat to his life for months and said that he was targeted by Indian intelligence agencies,” a statement from the organisation said.
Nijjar’s New York-based lawyer, Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, has said Nijjar was warned by Canadian intelligence officials about being targeted for assassination by “mercenaries” before he was killed.
Janice Stein, a political scientist and international relations expert at the University of Toronto, said killing a Canadian citizen on Canadian soil was astounding.
“It’s tragic for Canada because we have issues of foreign interference with the two largest economies in Asia: China and India. And we have two very large diaspora from both countries. This is not what we want.”
Indian authorities have cracked down on Sikh separatism over the years, after an armed insurgency in Punjab in the 1980s in favour of an independent Khalistan. A subsequent military operation killed thousands of people, according to official estimates.
