Timeline of tensions: How India-Canada relations soured

In an escalation of the ongoing diplomatic enactment betwixt India and Canada implicit what the second describes arsenic a “campaign of violence” against Sikh separatists connected Canadian soil, Ottawa expelled Indian precocious commissioner Sanjay Kumar Verma, alongside 5 different Indian diplomats connected Monday.

It is the latest improvement successful a quality initially triggered by the execution of a Sikh separatist leader, Hardeep Singh Nijjar, successful Canada successful June 2023.

In a tit-for-tat move, India’s overseas ministry said New Delhi would expel six Canadian diplomats – including the acting precocious commissioner – and gave them until Saturday to permission the country.

But diplomatic tensions betwixt India and Canada started earlier Nijjar’s killing. Here is simply a timeline of events starring up to the latest developments.

February 2018: Controversy implicit Trudeau’s India dinner

During a sojourn to India, Trudeau attended a ceremonial meal hosted by the Canadian High Commissioner successful New Delhi. Canadian media said the intent of Trudeau’s sojourn was to creaseless diplomatic and commercialized relations with India aft brewing tensions implicit what India perceived arsenic enactment for Sikh separatism – namely, the Khalistan movement – in the Canadian diaspora.

Khalistan is the sanction of the projected authorities envisioned by immoderate Sikhs successful a question that emerged successful India successful the 1970s and aboriginal 1980s. While the archetypal question mostly died away, it has seen immoderate resurgence among diasporic Sikh communities successful Europe and North America, particularly Canada, wherever 771,790 Sikhs unrecorded arsenic of the 2021 census. Canada has the largest Sikh colonisation extracurricular of India’s Punjab.

The contention implicit Trudeau’s meal with the Canadian High Commissioner centred astir Jaspal Singh Atwal, a Canadian-Indian erstwhile subordinate of a Sikh separatist radical called the International Sikh Youth Federation. The radical is listed connected Canada’s Public Safety Website arsenic a “terrorist” organisation. Atwal, who was besides invited to the dinner, had been convicted successful Canada for being progressive successful a 1986 assassination effort of the furniture curate for India’s Punjab state.

Two days earlier the meal successful 2018, Atwal besides attended different lawsuit linked to Trudeau’s sojourn and was photographed alongside the Canadian PM’s then-wife, Sophie Trudeau. This caused upset successful India starring Trudeau to rescind the invitation to Atwal. He told Indian media that Atwal should not person been invited successful the archetypal place.

Atwal issued an apology astatine a quality conference, saying: “I bash not advocator for an autarkic Sikh nation. I, similar the immense bulk of Sikhs who erstwhile advocated for this cause, person reconciled with the federation of India.”

Protesters extracurricular India’s consulate, aft Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau raised the imaginable of New Delhi’s engagement successful the execution of Sikh separatist person Hardeep Singh Nijjar successful British Columbia, successful Toronto, Ontario, Canada connected September 25, 2023 [Carlos Osorio/Reuters]

In precocious 2020, hundreds of thousands of farmers successful India marched to New Delhi to protestation caller cultivation laws which they said would harm their livelihoods. Police utilized teardrop state and h2o canons to disperse the protesters.

Trudeau expressed his interest astir the concern astatine an online lawsuit to people the 551st commencement day of Guru Nanak, the laminitis of Sikhism.

The Canadian PM said that his state would “always beryllium determination to support the rights of peaceful protest”.

India’s Ministry of External Affairs issued an aggravated response, saying: “We person seen immoderate ill-informed comments by Canadian leaders relating to farmers successful India. Such comments are unwarranted, particularly erstwhile pertaining to the interior affairs of a antiauthoritarian country.”

June 2023: The sidesplitting of Hardeep Singh Nijjar

Sikh separatist Hardeep Singh Nijjar, 45, was changeable dormant successful Canada extracurricular a Sikh temple connected June 18. The temple was located successful Surrey, a Vancouver metropolis with a ample colonisation of Sikhs.

In 2020, helium was assigned “terrorist” presumption by the Indian government. At the clip of his death, Nijjar had been readying an unofficial referendum successful India for an autarkic Sikh state.

Nijjar’s sidesplitting successful June 2023 came aft a build-up of tensions earlier that month. On June 8, India’s overseas minister, S Jaishankar, criticised Canada for allowing a parade interval successful Brampton, Ontario, depicting the 1984 assassination of erstwhile PM Indira Gandhi, who was killed by 2 of her Sikh bodyguards aft she allowed the storming of a Sikh temple.

September 2023: Trade negotiations paused, G20 tensions

Canada unexpectedly paused commercialized negotiations with India connected September 1. An explicit crushed was not stated, but an unnamed Canadian authoritative told Reuters quality bureau that the intermission was “to instrumentality banal of wherever we are”. However the authoritative did not elaborate connected what this was successful narration to.

On September 9 and 10, the G20 league held successful New Delhi further highlighted tensions betwixt the 2 countries. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi held bilateral meetings with galore satellite leaders, but snubbed Trudeau.

On September 15, a spokesperson for Canadian Trade Minister Mary Ng said Canada had postponed a commercialized ngo to India, which had been scheduled for October but gave nary peculiar reason.

On September 19, Ottawa expelled an Indian diplomat and India retaliated by expelling a Canadian diplomat. The expulsion came astatine the aforesaid clip arsenic Ottawa’s announcement that it was “actively pursuing credible allegations” linking Indian authorities agents to Nijjar’s murder.

India’s overseas ministry said successful a connection the expulsion of the Canadian diplomat was implicit “growing interest astatine the interference of Canadian diplomats successful our interior matters and their engagement successful anti-India activities”.

India besides suspended its visa operations successful Canada connected September 21, citing unspecified information threats. These visa restrictions were lifted successful late October.

October 2023: Canada pulls 41 diplomats retired of India

On October 19, Canada recalled 41 of its diplomats from India aft the Indian authorities said it would revoke their diplomatic immunity and information extortion for their relatives.

India’s overseas affairs ministry said: “The authorities of our bilateral relations, the overmuch higher fig of Canadian diplomats successful India, and their continued interference successful our interior affairs warrant a parity successful communal diplomatic beingness successful New Delhi and Ottawa.”

Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister Melanie Joly decried India’s menace to revoke diplomatic immunity arsenic a usurpation of planetary law. However, she said Canada would proceed to prosecute with India.

May 2024: Three men are arrested and charged with Nijjar’s death

The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) said connected May 3 that three men had been arrested successful an ongoing probe into Nijjar’s killing.

The Indian nationals, Kamalpreet Singh, 22; Karanpreet Singh, 28; and Karan Brar, 22, were arrested successful Edmonton, Alberta, and charged with first-degree execution and conspiracy to perpetrate murder.

On May 11, Indian nationalist Amandeep Singh, 22, was charged the same. He was already successful custody of Canadian constabulary for unrelated firearms charges. Canadian media reported helium was successful Canada connected a impermanent visa.

Canadian media reported that the lawsuit is ongoing and had been adjourned for the 5th clip connected October 1, 2024 portion the Canadian authorities works to disclose case-related documents to the defence.

“This probe does not extremity here. We are alert that others whitethorn person played a relation successful this homicide, and we stay dedicated to uncovering and arresting each 1 of these individuals,” RCMP Superintendent Mandeep Mooker told reporters.

October 2024: Canada expels six Indian diplomats

Canadian Minister of Foreign Affairs Melanie Joly said: “The RCMP gathered ample, wide and factual grounds which identified six individuals arsenic persons of involvement successful the Nijjar case,” successful a statement connected Monday.

At a quality league successful Ottawa connected Monday, Trudeau said grounds showed that Indian authorities agents had engaged successful activities that “threaten nationalist information successful Canada”, including “clandestine information-gathering techniques, coercive behaviour targeting South Asian Canadians, and engagement successful implicit a twelve threatening and convulsive acts, including murder”.

He added that the details the RCMP is capable to stock astatine the infinitesimal are “extremely limited”, but the grounds brought distant by the RCMP “cannot beryllium ignored”.

India rejected the accusations, deeming them “absurd” and successful crook ordering the expulsion of Canada’s acting precocious commissioner and 5 different diplomats by Saturday.

A connection from the Indian overseas ministry connected Monday said: “This latest measurement follows interactions that person again witnessed assertions without immoderate facts. This leaves small uncertainty that connected the pretext of an investigation, determination is simply a deliberate strategy of smearing India for governmental gains.”

The overseas ministry connection went connected to add: “The Trudeau Government has consciously provided abstraction to convulsive extremists and terrorists to harass, endanger and intimidate Indian diplomats and assemblage leaders successful Canada.”