New Delhi, Sep 19 (EFE).- India announced this Tuesday the expulsion of a senior diplomatic official from Canada, in response to the accusation by the Canadian authorities that the Asian country was involved in the murder in its territory of one of its citizens, a separatist leader of Indian origin and belonging to the Sikh community.
According to a statement from the Indian Foreign Ministry, “the Canadian High Commissioner to India was summoned today and informed about the Government of India’s decision to expel a senior Canadian diplomatic official.”
The diplomat must leave India in the coming days, in a move that reflects “growing concerns about interference by Canadian diplomats in our internal affairs,” according to the statement.
The murder of Hardeep Singh Nijjar last June in the town of Surrey, in western Canada, has sparked a diplomatic crisis between both countries.
Nijjar, who was shot by unknown assailants in the parking lot of a Sikh temple, had been accused of terrorism by Indian authorities for advocating the creation of the independent state of Khalistan for the Sikh minority in the Indian state of Punjab.
This separatist movement escalated into an armed insurgency in the 1980s that left tens of thousands dead in its wake.
The Prime Minister of Canada, Justin Trudeau, stated yesterday that, according to Canadian intelligence services, India was involved in Nijjar’s murder.
Canada also expelled yesterday an Indian diplomat, responsible for the Asian nation’s intelligence in the country.
India denies the allegations
The Government of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi yesterday rejected accusations that it described as absurd and motivated.
For the Indian Foreign Ministry, Trudeau’s statements seek to “divert attention from Khalistani terrorists and extremists.”
New Delhi has repeatedly accused Canada of allowing the presence of people who threaten its “territorial integrity,” while Trudeau defended the right to freedom of expression and peaceful demonstration after a tense meeting with Modi during the G20 summit on June 9. and September 10.
After the meeting between the two leaders, Canada this week postponed its trade mission to India after the paralysis of negotiations for a free trade agreement.
Canada has 1.8 million people of Indian origin, of whom about 770,000 are Sikhs.
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