Atmosphere of extremism and violence: India on downgrading ties with Canada

The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) on Monday summoned the Canadian Charge d’Affaires claiming baseless targeting of the Indian high commissioners, diplomats and officials in connection with the investigation into Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar’s murder.
Secretary (East) conveyed to the Canadian representative that such baseless accusations and actions are entirely unacceptable.
“The Canadian Charge d’Affaires was summoned by Secretary (East) this evening. He was informed that the baseless targeting of the Indian High Commissioner and other diplomats and officials in Canada was completely unacceptable,” MEA said in an official statement.
During the meeting, it was pointed out that the “current atmosphere of extremism and violence” poses a serious threat to the safety of Indian diplomats in Canada.
“It was underlined that in an atmosphere of extremism and violence, the Trudeau Government’s actions endangered their safety. 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 statement added.
Furthermore, it was made clear that India reserves the right to take additional measures in response to what it perceives as the Trudeau government’s “tacit support for extremism, violence, and separatism directed against India”.
Earlier in the day, India delivered a sharp rebuttal to Canada’s accusations, labelling them as “preposterous imputations”.
MEA also slammed the Canadian government for failing to provide any evidence of India’s alleged involvement in the killing of Nijjar, despite numerous requests for clarification.
It further accused Prime Minister Trudeau of engaging in vote bank politics and not taking adequate action against separatist groups within Canada.
Since September of last year, diplomatic relations between New Delhi and Ottawa have significantly deteriorated, following Trudeau’s claims that Indian government agents were implicated in the killing of Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar on Canadian soil. New Delhi has dismissed these allegations as “motivated and absurd”.