Icy Vibes : Canada Raise Nijjar Issue; India Withdraws High Commissioner, Expels Six Canadian Diplomats

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India has decided to withdraw its high commissioner to Canada and ‘other targeted diplomats and officials’, the ministry of external affairs announced.

Soon e Government of India has decided to expel six Canadian diplomats. They are to leave India by or before 11.59 pm on Saturday, October 19, 2024.

MEA issues a press statement –
1. Stewart Ross Wheeler, Acting High Commissioner
2. Patrick Hebert, Deputy High Commissioner
3. Marie Catherine Joly, First Secretary
4. lan Ross David Trites, First Secretary
5. Adam James Chuipka, First Secretary
6. Paula Orjuela, First Secretary

India summoned the Canadian charge d’affaires and informed him that baseless targeting of the Indian high commissioner and other diplomats was completely unacceptable, the MEA said in a report by PTI.

Earlier, India-Canada tensions further escalated after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau tried to link the Indian high commissioner in the probe into the killing of Khalistani separatist Hardeep Singh Nijjar on June 8 last year.

Canada in which the Indian High Commissioner Sanjay Kumar Verma and other Indian diplomats have been regarded as “persons of interest” in the case of June 2023 murder of pro-Khalistan activist Hardeep Singh Nijjar

India has strongly rejected the allegations against High Commissioner Sanjay Kumar Verma. The charges against Verma are “preposterous imputations” and a “political agenda of the Trudeau government that is centred around vote bank politics.”

A diplomatic communication from Canada was sent to MEA suggesting that the Indian high commissioner and other diplomats are ‘persons of interest’ in a matter related to an investigation in the country.

“Since Prime Minister Trudeau made certain allegations in September 2023, the Canadian government has not shared a shred of evidence with the Government of India, despite many requests from our side,” the MEA said.