Canada on Monday ordered an Indian diplomat to leave the country as it investigates the killing of a prominent Sikh leader who was gunned down in British Columbia in June.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said an investigation into “credible allegations” that Indian state actors may have been behind the death of Hardeep Singh Nijjar is ongoing.
Canada’s Foreign Minister Melanie Joly said “If proven it would be a huge violation of our sovereignty and the most basic rule of how countries should deal with each other.”
“As a result we expelled a prominent Indian diplomat,” Melanie said without naming names.
Who is the Sikh leader in question?
Canadian Sikh leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar was shot on the premises of a Sikh temple in British Columbia in June, angering the Sikh community in Canada and elsewhere.
Canada is home to hundreds of thousands of people of Indian origin, most of whom are Sikhs. Many have said they believe the Indian government may be behind the killing.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said intelligence agencies are continuing to look into the allegations.
“For the past number of weeks Canadian security agencies have been actively pursuing credible allegations of a potential link between Indian government agents and the killing of a Canadian citizen, Hardeep Singh Nijjar ,” Trudeau told Parliament.
Trudeau added that he highlighted the assassination of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the G20 summit in New Delhi last week.
Trudeau said he told Modi that any involvement by the Indian government was unacceptable and that he had asked for cooperation in the investigation.
rm/jsi (AP, Reuters, AFP)
