India has decided to withdraw the Indian High Commissioner to Canada and all other “ targeted ” diplomats and officials following a diplomatic communication sent by Canada that suggested that they were ‘persons of interest’ in the investigations on the killing of Canadian Khalistani separatist leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar.

The government summoned Canada’s charge d’affaires, Stewart Wheeler, in New Delhi on Monday and informed him that the baseless targeting of the Indian High Commissioner and other diplomats and officials in Canada was completely unacceptable, per a statement issued by the MEA on Monday.

“It was underlined that in an atmosphere of extremism and violence, the Trudeau Government’s actions endangered their safety. We have no faith in the current Canadian Government’s commitment to ensure their security. Therefore, the Government of India has decided to withdraw the High Commissioner and other targeted diplomats and officials,” the statement noted.

India reserves the right to take further steps in response to the Trudeau government’s support for extremism, violence and separatism against India, it said.

Diplomatic communication

In another statement, the MEA strongly criticised and rejected contents of  Canada’s diplomatic communication. “We have received a diplomatic communication from Canada yesterday suggesting that the Indian High Commissioner and other diplomats are ‘persons of interest’ in a matter related to an investigation in that country. The Government of India strongly rejects these preposterous imputations and ascribes them to the political agenda of the Trudeau Government that is centered around vote bank politics,” per a MEA statement issued on Monday.

The developments served a further blow to diplomatic relations between India and Canada already strained over Sikh separatist activities in Canada and the killing of Nijjar.

The MEA noted that Indian High Commissioner to Canada Sanjay Kumar Verma was India’s senior most serving diplomat with a distinguished career spanning 36 years and had been Ambassador in Japan and Sudan, while also serving in Italy, Turkiye, Vietnam and China. “The aspersions cast on him by the Government of Canada are ludicrous and deserve to be treated with contempt,” it said.

The note asserted that since Prime Minister Trudeau made certain allegations in September 2023, the Canadian government had not shared a “shred of evidence” with India, despite many requests from the Indian side. “This latest step follows interactions that have again witnessed assertions without any facts. This leaves little doubt that on the pretext of an investigation, there is a deliberate strategy of smearing India for political gains,” it said.

The MEA further alleged that the Trudeau government was dependent on a political party, whose leader openly espoused a separatist ideology vis-à-vis India, and when criticised for turning a blind eye to foreign interference in Canadian politics, it deliberately brought in India in an attempt to mitigate the damage. “This latest development targeting Indian diplomats is now the next step in that direction. It is no coincidence that it takes place as Prime Minister Trudeau is to depose before a Commission on foreign interference. It also serves the anti-India separatist agenda that the Trudeau Government has constantly pandered to for narrow political gains,” it added.

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