Canada’s Foreign Minister Mélanie Joly on Friday cautioned Indian diplomats remaining in the country, stating they are ‘clearly on notice’ not to compromise Canadian safety. The statement comes as diplomatic tensions continue to rise, fueled by Canada’s unproven allegations of Indian involvement in the death of a Sikh separatist leader, a claim that India has firmly rejected.
The diplomatic standoff intensified earlier this week when Canada expelled India’s High Commissioner and five other diplomats, accusing them of involvement in a campaign of violence and intimidation targeting Sikh separatists in the country. The response came following New Delhi’s rejection of Ottawa’s allegations connecting the envoy to the investigation into the killing of Hardeep Singh Nijjar. While, Canada announced it had expelled 6 Indian diplomats.
“We’ve never seen that in our history. That level of transnational repression cannot happen on Canadian soil. We’ve seen it elsewhere in Europe. Russia has done that in Germany and the UK and we needed to stand firm on this issue,” PTI quoted Joly in Montreal.
When asked about the possibility of further expulsions of Indian diplomats, Foreign Minister Mélanie Joly stated, “They are clearly on notice. Six of them have been expelled, including the High Commissioner in Ottawa. Others were primarily based in Toronto and Vancouver, and we clearly won’t tolerate any diplomats that are in contravention of the Vienna Convention.”
Joly’s comments come as the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) allege that Indian diplomats were involved in the events leading to the killing of Hardeep Singh Nijjar, a Sikh separatist and designated terrorist in India, who was shot dead last year in British Columbia.