Canadian Foreign Minister Melanie Joly announced that the remaining Indian diplomats in Canada are now "on notice," emphasizing that Canada will not accept any further criminal activities on its soil.
This warning comes after the recent expulsion of six Indian diplomats, following claims from Canada’s national police force that there is substantial evidence of murder and extortion by agents in Canada acting under orders from New Delhi.
India’s high commissioner was among those expelled from Canada after being named a person of interest in the assassination of Canadian Sikh activist Hardeep Singh Nijjar on June 18, 2023, in British Columbia. India has strongly denied these allegations and responded by ordering six Canadian diplomats to leave its territory.
However, Joly stated that evidence indicates New Delhi has employed criminals in Canada for violent acts, particularly targeting Sikh separatists seeking to establish a Sikh state in India.
“There was definitely a threat, which is why the RCMP (Royal Canadian Mounted Police) took the unusual step of publicly revealing that Canadians were being intimidated, extorted, or even receiving death threats linked to actions by agents and diplomats from India,” Joly said during a news conference in Montreal, as reported by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation.
She emphasized, “We’ve never seen that in our history. Such a level of transnational repression cannot take place on Canadian soil.”
