Canada has withdrawn 41 diplomats and their families from India after New Delhi threatened to revoke their diplomatic immunity amid a deepening dispute over the assassination of a Sikh activist.
The move follows a series of tit-for-tat diplomatic expulsions between the two countries following the June killing of Canadian citizen and prominent Sikh leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar, who was gunned down by two masked attackers in British Columbia.
A rift between the countries opened up after Canadian leader Justin Trudeau claimed his intelligence services were pursuing “credible allegations” that the killing was potentially linked to agents of the Indian government. India has vehemently denied any involvement in Nijjar’s death and called the claims “absurd and motivated.”
This is the best summary I could come up with:
The move follows a series of tit-for-tat diplomatic expulsions between the two countries following the June killing of Canadian citizen and prominent Sikh leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar, who was gunned down by two masked attackers in British Columbia.
A rift between the countries opened up after Canadian leader Justin Trudeau claimed his intelligence services were pursuing “credible allegations” that the killing was potentially linked to agents of the Indian government.
“The Consulates General of Canada in Bengaluru, Chandigarh and Mumbai are temporarily suspending in-person operations,” the Canadian High Commission in New Delhi said in a statement.
Commenting on the withdrawal of the 41 diplomats on Thursday, Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly said India’s recent actions had been “unreasonable.”
Nijjar was an outspoken supporter of the creation of a separate Sikh homeland that would include parts of India and be known as Khalistan.
According to the World Sikh Organization of Canada, Nijjar often led peaceful protests against what the advocacy group called the “violation of human rights actively taking place in India and in support of Khalistan.”
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