India expels Canadian diplomat on row over Nijjar killing

The High Commissioner of Canada to India was summoned today and informed about the decision of the Government of India to expel a senior Canadian diplomat based in India. The concerned diplomat has been asked to leave India within the next five days.The decision reflects Government of India’s growing concern at the interference of Canadian diplomats in our internal matters and their involvement in anti-India activities.

Earlier, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau raised his ‘deep concerns' on the matter while speaking in the legislature. Claiming that he raised those concerns with Prime Minister Narendra Modi ‘personally and directly’, Trudeau said killing of a Canadian citizen on the country's soil is an ‘unacceptable violation of our sovereignty’. The Indian governement has rejected claims made by the Canadian PM, calling it ‘absurd and motivated’. New Delhi has also urged Canada to take effective and prompt legal action against all anti-India elements operating from their soil.

Designated terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar was killed in June this year in Canada's British Columbia province. Declared ‘wanted’ in four NIA cases pertaining to Sikh radicalism, Nijjar was the chief of pro-Khalistan outfit Khalistan Tiger Force (KTF). His outfit has associations with Sikh For Justice, run by another pro-Khalistan leader Gurpatwant Singh Pannun. Nijjar was shot dead at Guru Nanak Sikh Gurudwara in the Canadian province. He became the gurudwara's president after allegedly occupying it forcibly.