Canada accuses, India tenses. On Tuesday, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau asked India to “take seriously” the matter of the death of Sikh leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar. On the basis of “credible elements”, Ottawa suspects New Delhi agents of having acted in June on national soil. In response, India said Thursday that it had requested a reduction in the number of Canadian diplomats in India and “temporarily” stopped processing visa applications in Canada.
A few hours earlier, the Canadian High Commission had announced that it would “adjust” the presence of its diplomats in India following “threats on various social media platforms” against its staff. The Indian Ministry of Foreign Affairs expressed concern on Wednesday for its nationals traveling to Canada, “given the increase in anti-Indian activities and hate crimes and criminal offenses with political connotations in Canada”.
A Sikh leader naturalized Canadian in 2015
Hardeep Singh Nijjar was shot dead in June in Canada by two masked men in the parking lot of the Sikh temple he led near Vancouver. An activist for the creation of “Khalistan”, an independent Sikh state in northern India, he arrived in Canada in 1997 and was naturalized in 2015.
He was wanted by Indian authorities for alleged acts of terrorism and conspiracy to commit murder. Accusations that he denied, according to the World Sikh Organization of Canada, a group defending the interests of Canadian Sikhs. Since his murder and the violent protests that followed in Canada, relations between Ottawa and New Delhi have deteriorated significantly. This case “is extremely serious and has significant consequences, both in terms of international law and in other aspects for Canada,” Justin Trudeau said on Tuesday.