India recalls Canada envoy, downgrades diplomatic ties amid escalating row

India on Monday withdrew its High Commissioner to Canada, Sanjay Kumar Verma, and other senior diplomats and officials amid an escalation in the diplomatic row between the two countries.
The government’s move came in response to Canada naming the Indian High Commissioner and other diplomats as ‘persons of interest’ in the investigation into Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar’s murder.
In a statement announcing the withdrawal of India’s High Commissioner to Canada, the Ministry of External Affairs underlined that in an atmosphere of extremism and violence, the Trudeau Government’s actions endangered the diplomats’ safety.
“We have no faith in the current Canadian Government’s commitment to ensure their security. Therefore, the Government of India has decided to withdraw the High Commissioner and other targeted diplomats and officials”, the statement said.
Minutes after India announced the withdrawal of its envoy to Ottawa, Canada expelled six Indian diplomats, including High Commissioner SK Verma, a Washington Post report said.
Earlier, the Canadian Charge d’Affaires in New Delhi, Stewart Wheeler, was summoned by the Ministry of External Affairs. He was informed that the baseless targeting of the Indian High Commissioner and other diplomats and officials in Canada was completely unacceptable.
It was also conveyed that India reserves the right to take further steps in response to the Trudeau Government’s support for extremism, violence and separatism against India, the MEA statement said.
After leaving the MEA office in New Delhi, Wheeler asserted that India has to live up to what it said it would do with regard to Ottawa’s allegations.
“Canada has provided credible, irrefutable evidence of ties between agents of the Government of India and the murder of a Canadian citizen on Canadian soil. Now, it is time for India to live up to what it said it would do and look into all those allegations”, Wheeler said.
“It is in the interest of both our countries and the people of our countries to get to the bottom of this. Canada stands ready to cooperate with India”, he added.
On Monday morning, India sent out a scathing response to Canada’s allegations, calling them “preposterous imputations”.
The Ministry of External Affairs said the Canadian government did not share a shred of evidence of India’s involvement in Nijjar’s killing despite repeated requests and accused Trudeau of doing vote bank politics and not doing enough to tackle separatist elements on Canadian soil.
Diplomatic ties between New Delhi and Ottawa have taken a plunge since September last year, when Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau alleged Indian government agents’ involvement in the killing of Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar on Canadian soil. New Delhi rejected those charges as “motivated and absurd”.