SHAH ALAM - India and Canada relations have taken a new low as Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau suspects Indian agents are behind the killing of Sikh separatist leader, Hardeep Singh Nijjar.
However, in response, the India Foreign Ministry rejected such baseless allegations by calling it 'absurd and motivated'.
The ministry also said that Canada's 'inaction' had been a long-standing and continuing concern.
"We urge the Government of Canada to take prompt and effective legal action against all anti-India elements operating from their soil," the statement concluded.
Shortly after, the Indian government issued another statement saying that a senior Canadian diplomat was asked to leave Indian within the next five days.
"The decision reflects Government of India's growing concern at the interference of Canadian diplomats in our internal matters and their involvement in anti-India activities," the statement said.
Who was Hardeep Singh Nijjar? Nijjar, whom India had declared a wanted terrorist, was shot dead outside a Sikh temple in Surrey, British Colombia, on June 18.
He is also known for allegedly creating an independent Sikh state (Khalistan) to be carved out of India's Punjab state. However, he was wanted by Indian authorities and had been "established" as a 'terrorist' in July 2020.
According to World Sikh Organisation of Canada, Nijjar had been warned by Canada's spy agency about the threats against him, which alleged he was 'assasinated in a targeted shooting'.
India's Punjab state (with 58 per cent Sikh and 39 per cent Hindu) was shaken by a violent Khalistan separatist movement in the early 1980s and 1990s, which saw thousands of people die.
Today, that movement's most vocal advocates are primarily among the Punjabi overseas migrants.
Why India has all eyes on Canada's Sikh community? Canada is known for being home to one of the largest overseas communities of Indian origin, with 1.4 million out of an overall Canadian population of 40 million.
Recent data shows that about 770,000 people reported Sikhism as their religion in Canada.
Canada also has the highest population of Sikhs outside their home state of Punjab.
The Guardian reported that the India government often makes complaints to Canada about the activities of Sikh hardliners among the Indian diaspora who are trying to revive the insurgency.
In June, India's foreign ministry had allegedly slammed Canada for permitting a float in a parade depicting the 1984 assassination of the then-Indian prime minister Indira Gandhi by her bodyguards, which was seen as Sikh separatists glorifying violence.
While consistently stating that he supports the right to free speech and the assembly of protesters to demonstrate, Justin Trudeau assured India in 2018 that Canada would not help anyone attempting to revive a separatist movement in India.
What does this mean for Canada-India relations? The two nations, which earlier this year said they could reach an outline of a trade agreement by the end of 2023, have suddenly halted negotiations.
India's is the tenth-largest economic partner of Canda, and the trade negotiations have been ongoing for more than ten years.
However, according to Statistics Canada, bilateral trade between the two countries in 2021 only totaled C$13.7bn out of a total of C$1.52 trillion of all Canadian trade.
Therefore, the Indian government urged Trudeau to take action against 'anti-India elements' operating inside Canada after rejecting the allegations in a statement on Tuesday.
The Indian government then ordered a senior Canadian diplomat to leave the country.