India-Canada Ties Nosedive: New Delhi Recalls High Commissioner, Expels Canadian Diplomats From Country

The Government of India today (14 October) recalled the Indian High Commissioner to Canada, Sanjay Verma and other officials.

"We have no faith in the current Canadian Government's commitment to ensure their security. Therefore, the Government of India has decided to withdraw the High Commissioner and other targeted diplomats and officials", the Ministry of External Affairs said in a statement.

This comes after Canada informed India that the Indian High Commissioner and other diplomats are ‘persons of interest’ in the investigation on Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar's killing on Canadian soil.

That charge was refuted strongly by Indian's Ministry of External Affairs.

In a statement uncharacteristic of the diplomatic language usually employed by India, the Narendra Modi government accused Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau of smearing India for political gain.

"Prime Minister Trudeau’s hostility to India has long been in evidence. In 2018, his visit to India, which was aimed at currying favour with a vote bank, rebounded to his discomfort. His Cabinet has included individuals who have openly associated with an extremist and separatist agenda regarding India. His naked interference in Indian internal politics in December 2020 showed how far he was willing to go in this regard," it said.

In a clear reference to Jagmeet Singh of the New Democratic Party in Canada, the statement said: "That his Government was dependent on a political party, whose leader openly espouses a separatist ideology vis-à-vis India, only aggravated matters. Under criticism for turning a blind eye to foreign interference in Canadian politics, his Government has deliberately brought in India in an attempt to mitigate the damage".

"This latest development targeting Indian diplomats is now the next step in that direction. It is no coincidence that it takes place as Prime Minister Trudeau is to depose before a Commission on foreign interference. It also serves the anti-India separatist agenda that the Trudeau Government has constantly pandered to for narrow political gains."

Canadian Charge d'Affaires in New Delhi, Stewart Wheeler was summoned by the MEA and told that India reserves the right to take further steps in response to the Trudeau Government's support for extremism, violence and separatism against India".

Later, Wheeler, and five other Canadian diplomats were expelled from India, given time till 19 October to leave. The other five include, Deputy High Commissioner Patrick Hebert, first secretaries Marie Catherine Joly, Ian Ross David Trites, Adam James Chuipka and Paula Orjuela.

These developments mark the breakdown of India-Canada ties that have been suffering ever since Justin Trudeau assumed power in Ottawa.