{"id":17855,"date":"2023-09-20T00:05:47","date_gmt":"2023-09-19T21:05:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ir-ia.com\/news\/?p=17855"},"modified":"2023-09-20T00:05:53","modified_gmt":"2023-09-19T21:05:53","slug":"canada-expels-indian-diplomat-as-trudeau-accuses-india-of-killing-sikh-leader","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ir-ia.com\/news\/canada-expels-indian-diplomat-as-trudeau-accuses-india-of-killing-sikh-leader\/","title":{"rendered":"Canada expels Indian diplomat as Trudeau accuses India of killing Sikh leader"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong>India expelled a Canadian diplomat on September 19, 2023, in a tit-for-tat move after Canada accused its diplomat of being involved in the assassination of a Sikh activist on its soil. The expelled Indian diplomat was the head of the Indian intelligence agency in Canada.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The growing spat between Ottawa and New Delhi reached its climax after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said that his government was investigating \u201ccredible allegations\u201d linking an Indian diplomat to the June killing of Canadian citizen and prominent Sikh leader, Hardeep Singh Nijjar.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cOver the past number of weeks, Canadian security agencies have been actively pursuing credible allegations of a potential link between agents of the government of India and the killing of a Canadian citizen Hardeep Singh Nijjar,\u201d Trudeau said in his parliamentary speech on Monday. He added that his government would take all steps necessary \u201cto hold perpetrators of this murder to account.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Following Trudeau\u2019s speech, Canada\u2019s foreign minister M\u00e9lanie Joly&nbsp;announced that an Indian diplomat had been kicked out of Canada in connection with the murder of Hardeep Singh Nijjar. \u201cToday we\u2019re acting by expelling a key diplomat, but we will get to the bottom of this,\u201d she told reporters in Ottawa.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">My statement on allegations surrounding the killing of Hardeep Singh Nijjar. <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/auIyj194A8\">pic.twitter.com\/auIyj194A8<\/a><\/p>\u2014 M\u00e9lanie Joly (@melaniejoly) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/melaniejoly\/status\/1703941038375584223?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">September 19, 2023<\/a><\/blockquote> <script async=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Joly also added that the Canadian administration has raised the issue of India\u2019s involvement in the murder on the international stage and Prime Minister Trudeau has also spoken with U.S. President Joe Biden and British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak regarding the issue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Indian Foreign Ministry responded by expelling a senior Canadian diplomat from India after accusing him of meddling in India\u2019s internal affairs. \u201cThe concerned diplomat has been asked to leave India within the next five days,\u201d the Indian foreign ministry said in a statement. \u201cThe decision reflects the Government of India\u2019s growing concern at the interference of Canadian diplomats in our internal matters and their involvement in anti-India activities,\u201d it added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><br><strong>Who was Hardeep Singh Nijjar?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Hardeep Singh Nijjar was the figurehead of the Sikh movement that demanded the independence of India\u2019s Punjab. He was an outspoken supporter of the creation of a separate Sikh homeland known as Khalistan. The Indian government had labeled Nijjar as a terrorist for leading a separatist movement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In 2016, Interpol accused Nijjar as the key culprit behind the 2007 bombing of a cinema in India\u2019s Punjab. The Indian government had also accused Nijjar of recruiting and fundraising for anti-Indian movements, a charge that he denied.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"alignleft size-large is-resized\"><a href=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.ir-ia.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/Canada-Guru-Nanak-Sikh-Gurdwara-temple.jpg?ssl=1\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.ir-ia.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/Canada-Guru-Nanak-Sikh-Gurdwara-temple.jpg?resize=841%2C512&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"Guru Nanak Sikh Gurdwara temple sign\" class=\"wp-image-17857\" width=\"841\" height=\"512\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.ir-ia.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/Canada-Guru-Nanak-Sikh-Gurdwara-temple.jpg?resize=1024%2C625&amp;ssl=1 1024w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.ir-ia.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/Canada-Guru-Nanak-Sikh-Gurdwara-temple.jpg?resize=300%2C183&amp;ssl=1 300w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.ir-ia.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/Canada-Guru-Nanak-Sikh-Gurdwara-temple.jpg?resize=768%2C468&amp;ssl=1 768w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.ir-ia.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/Canada-Guru-Nanak-Sikh-Gurdwara-temple.jpg?w=1200&amp;ssl=1 1200w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 841px) 100vw, 841px\" \/><\/a><figcaption><em><sup>A sign outside the Guru Nanak Sikh Gurdwara temple is seen after the killing on its grounds in June 2023 of Sikh leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar, in Surrey, British Columbia, Canada, on September 18, 2023. (Image Credit: Reuters\/Chris Helgren)<\/sup><\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>The 45-year-old Canadian citizen and Sikh leader was killed in a shooting on June 28, 2023, outside a Sikh temple in British Colombia. He was serving as the president of the temple. Indian authorities had announced a cash reward last year for information leading to Nijjar\u2019s arrest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Following the announcement of the expulsion of the Indian diplomat, Nijjar\u2019s 21-year-old son spoke to the media and thanked Prime Minister Trudeau and other Canadian politicians. \u201cWhen we heard the news today, it was a sense of relief that it\u2019s finally coming to the public,\u201d he said. \u201cIt was just a matter of time for when the truth would come out,\u201d the younger Nijjar added.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>India expelled a Canadian diplomat on September 19, 2023, in a tit-for-tat move after Canada accused its diplomat of being involved in the assassination of a Sikh activist on its soil. The expelled Indian diplomat was the head of the Indian intelligence agency in Canada.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":17867,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[115,62,1],"tags":[137,157,208,70,354,533,7],"class_list":["post-17855","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-americas","category-europe","category-news","tag-asia","tag-canada","tag-diplomacy","tag-india","tag-north-america","tag-south-asia","tag-u-s"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.ir-ia.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/Canada-India-leaders-picture.jpg?fit=690%2C370&ssl=1","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7jJWb-4DZ","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ir-ia.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17855","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ir-ia.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ir-ia.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ir-ia.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ir-ia.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17855"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.ir-ia.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17855\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":17869,"href":"https:\/\/www.ir-ia.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17855\/revisions\/17869"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ir-ia.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/17867"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ir-ia.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17855"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ir-ia.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17855"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ir-ia.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17855"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}