The Row Continues: India-Canada Diplomatic Expulsions ongoing after murder accusations.

Last September’s escalation of diplomatic tensions between India and Canada turned for the worse this week with the mutual expulsion of diplomatic envoy leaders. (14th October 2024) 

By Gabriella de Reynal de Saint-Michel

On the 18th of June 2023, Hardeep Singh Najjar, a Canadian national, was killed in Vancouver British Columbia outside of his place of worship. The incident was reported as a local homicide by police following the days of the murder, until President Justin Trudeau addressed the Canadian Parliament about the event weeks later, stating from “credible intelligence” (The Economist 25th September 2023) that the murder of Mr Najjar had potential links to the Indian government. 

This week, a further escalation has been made with the expulsion of leading diplomats from both states as Mr Trudeau has asked his High Commissioner Stewart Ross Wheeler, along with 6 other high-ranking officials of the Canadian Embassy in New Delhi (Meryl Sebastian, BBC 14th October 2024)

President Trudeau's statement about the Indian government’s supposed actions on Canadian soil has triggered what CNN reports as an ‘unprecedented diplomatic row’ (Paula Newton et al., CNN, 20th October 2023), which has resulted in further divides between Western international intelligence-sharing operations and the current Indian government. 

President Biden, among other Five Eyes state leaders, reportedly spoke on the incident with Prime Minister Modi at the G20 summit last year behind closed doors, urging the Indian government to cooperate with the investigation. Since then, the tensions between the two states have only escalated with diplomatic agents describing communications as ‘difficult’ (BBC. 14th October 2024). The Indian government have challenged the veracity of Mr Trudeau’s allegations since the incident began last October, with the last expulsion of Canadian top diplomats from New Delhi coming after a meeting between the two states sharing the evidence behind the allegations.

As the Diplomatic breakdown between the two states escalated, following a tit-for-tat trade-off of 44 diplomats towards the end of 2023 and visa applications being suspended, the new development of Mr Trudeau asking his top diplomatic envoys to leave India by the end of this week has drawn a new line in the tensions between both nations. 

Mr Najjar, whilst not being a high-profile international figure, made waves in pro-Sikh demonstrations in both India and Canada, notably against President Modi’s current government. However, it is the historical Sikh-separatism of India’s nation that provides insight into India’s actions, and the already frosty relationship with Canada and their policy on the diaspora of the Sikh community. The Sikh uprising in 1980s India resulted in the assassination of Indian President Indira Gandhi by her Sikh bodyguards in 1984 in reaction to Operation Blue Star. The Indian armed forces operation on a Sikh holy site, resulting in many casualties, overwhelmingly those praying in the temple, was used by the Indian government and a reactionary measure to Sikh insurgence in the country at the time. Due to the significant history between the Sikh-separatist movement and the Indian government, the allegations posed by Canada, although with apparent grounding from Western intelligence sources, sparked strong Indian criticism of Canada’s government, as government officials in New Delhi grew more hostile to Canada’s diplomatic policy. 

On the back of long-standing international diplomatic tensions between India and Canada, these states exercise significant global influence, and although not an overt expression of aggression to the state, India’s alleged actions have increased the tensions between global East-West allegiances.

Bibliography

Sebastian, M. 2024, India and Canada expel top diplomats over murder accusations. BBC 

News. [Online] Available at: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/clyle3py4nko (Accessed 16th October 2024).

Ziady, H., Newton, P., and John, T. 2024, Canada expels Indian diplomats after tying. 

government agents to ‘serious criminal activity’. CNN World. [Online] Available at: https://edition.cnn.com/2024/10/14/americas/canada-expels-indian-diplomats-intl-latam/index.html (Accessed 16th October 2024).

India is testing America’s friendship. The Economist.

[Online] Available at: https://www.economist.com/asia/2023/09/25/india-is-testing-americas-friendship  (Accessed 16th October 2024).