India chases away Canadian diplomats“/>
India’s Ministry of External Affairs has decided to expel six Canadian diplomats from the country.
As Day.Az reports with reference to TASS, the department issued a corresponding statement on its official website.
“The Government of India has decided to expel six Canadian diplomats,” the ministry said. The list of names attached to the message includes acting Ambassador Stuart Ross Wheeler, as well as his deputy and four first secretaries.
“They were asked to leave India by 23:59 on Saturday, October 19, 2024,” the department clarified.
Earlier, the Indian Foreign Ministry announced the recall of the Republic’s Ambassador to Canada Sanjay Kumar Verma and some other diplomats due to concerns for their safety after statements from Canada. They allege that the Indian ambassador in Ottawa was involved in a plot to kill one of the leaders of the Sikh community, Hardeep Singh Nijjar. The Indian Foreign Ministry called these statements unfounded and unacceptable, accusing the country’s authorities of supporting extremism, violence and separatism against India.
Relations between Ottawa and New Delhi worsened after Canada decided to expel one of India’s senior diplomats in September 2023 over allegations that the Republic’s intelligence services were involved in the murder of one Nijjar on Canadian soil. New Delhi considers him a terrorist because he advocated the creation of an independent Sikh state of Khalistan in place of the state of Punjab, the majority of whose population is represented by Sikhism. New Delhi then rejected Ottawa’s accusations and expelled the Canadian diplomat in response.
The Indian Embassy in Ottawa soon suspended the issuance of visas. Canadian authorities then announced that 41 diplomats and their families had returned home from India. India said that Canadian diplomats interfered in the internal affairs of the republic. The Indian Foreign Ministry believes that Canadian politicians openly sympathize with extremists from among the Sikh community who advocate the creation of Khalistan.