India on Monday said it is recalling its ambassador to Canada and other diplomats after the Canadian government identified them as persons of interest in an investigation, according to a statement released on Monday by the Indian foreign ministry.
The government in New Delhi cited “an atmosphere of extremism and violence,” which it said endangered their diplomats’ safety in Canada. The recall of the diplomats, including the Indian High Commissioner to Canada, Sanjay Kumar Verma, represents a grave step in a diplomatic standoff that has been escalating for more than a year.
The statement did not explain what the investigation was about, and the Canadian government has not issued any response. A spokeswoman for the Canadian foreign ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The two countries have been in an intense dispute following the assassination of a Canadian Sikh cleric in British Columbia in June 2023, which the government of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said at the time had been orchestrated by the Indian government.
Canada is home to a large Sikh community and India has said that some Sikhs in Canada are actively involved in a secessionist movement that seeks to carve out a Sikh homeland.
The Indian government has vehemently denied the accusations that it was involved in the killing of the cleric and has claimed that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau of Canada is pandering to Canada’s large Sikh community for political gain.
On Monday the Indian government summoned Canada’s second-highest ranking diplomat, Stewart Wheeler, the chargé d’affaires, to a meeting at the Indian foreign ministry to explain his government’s actions.
Several news outlets in India said that as he left the ministry, Mr. Wheeler told local news media that the Canadian government had “provided credible irrefutable evidence of ties between agents of the government of India and the murder of a Canadian citizen on Canadian soil.”
He added that India should “live up to what it said it would do, and look into our allegations. It is in the interest of both our countries and the peoples of our countries to get to the bottom of this. Canada stands ready to cooperate with India.”
Hardeep Singh Nijjar, 45, a prominent Sikh leader and president of a Sikh temple in Surrey, in British Columbia, was killed outside the temple last year. Three Indian nationals have been arrested and charged in the ongoing investigation.
The deepening rift between the two nations comes as the United States, the European Union and others try to court India as a counterweight to Russia on the world stage.
In its statement, the Indian foreign ministry on Monday attacked Mr. Trudeau: “The Government of India strongly rejects these preposterous imputations and ascribes them to the political agenda of the Trudeau Government that is centered around vote bank politics.”
The Indian government asserts that Mr. Trudeau is in cahoots with Sikh separatists because they support him and his Liberal Party.
The statement by the Indian government comes as a Canadian parliamentary committee is investigating the interference of foreign powers in domestic politics.
A Canadian parliamentary report in June, based on information provided by the country’s intelligence services, identified China and India as the two countries that pose the biggest risk of foreign interference in Canadian politics.
Mr. Kumar Verma, has described the report as politically motivated and dismissed its findings. He is the equivalent of India’s ambassador to Canada.
Canada’s accusations against India regarding the assassination of Mr. Nijjar were bolstered by a United States investigation into a similar, unsuccessful plot against a U.S.-based Sikh cleric.
On Monday the Indian government expressed its full support for Mr. Kumar Verma.
As part of the fallout between Canada and India over Mr. Nijjar’s killing, Canada has withdrawn dozens of its diplomats from India.
The Canadian foreign ministry did not respond to a request to confirm the diplomatic communication between the two countries, nor would it discuss the subject of the investigation that involves the diplomats.
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