Stewart Wheeler, Canada’s envoy to the Indian capital New Delhi, announced today that his government has presented India with the necessary evidence in response to Ottawa’s claims against India over the killing of an Indian separatist leader in Canada.
Today, India announced the withdrawal of its ambassador to Canada after being labeled a “person of interest” by local authorities in the murder of Indian-Canadian Hardeep Singh Nijjar.
“Canada has provided credible and irrefutable evidence of links between Indian government agents and the killing of a Canadian citizen on Canadian soil,” Wheeler stated after being summoned to India’s foreign ministry.
The 2023 assassination of Singh Nijjar strained relations between India and Canada, with Justin Trudeau promptly claiming there were “credible allegations” linking Indian intelligence to the crime.
“We do not have confidence in the current Canadian government to secure our staff there, so we are withdrawing the targeted officials and diplomats,” the Indian foreign ministry stated after withdrawing the ambassador to Canada.
Nijjar, who emigrated to Canada in 1997 and became a citizen in 2015, advocated for an independent Indian Sikh state, called Khalistan, outside India.
Four Indians have been detained in connection with his murder, which occurred in a Sikh temple in Vancouver in June 2023, according to AFP.