Canada expels Indian diplomat after PM Trudeau claims India's hand in killing of Khalistani leader

Ottawa : Signalling a further souring of bilateral ties, Canadian Foreign Minister Melanie Joly on Monday said an Indian diplomat in the country had been expelled, Al Jazeera reported.

The expulsion comes in light of PM Justin Trudeau's statement alleging an Indian hand in the killing of wanted Khalistani leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar.

Joly said the Canadian government had expelled an Indian diplomat, the head of India’s external intelligence agency, R&AW, in Canada, over allegations of the country's involvement in the killing of the Khalistani leader, according to Al Jazeera.

However, she did not provide any further details on the diplomat's name or the place from where he was expelled, according to the report.

“We see this possible breach of sovereignty as completely unacceptable, and so, that is also why we’re coming (out) with this information (of the expulsion of the Indian diplomat) today,” Joly said at a news conference, Al Jazeera reported.

Earlier, on Monday, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau accused the Indian government of being behind the fatal shooting of the wanted Khalistani leader, CBC News reported.

Nijjar was gunned down outside a gurdwara, in a parking area in Canada's Surrey, BC on June 18.

According to CBC News, Canada, PM Trudeau said his country's national security officials had reasons to believe that "agents of the Indian government" carried out the killing of the Canadian citizen, who also served as the president of Surrey's Guru Nanak Sikh Gurdwara.

"Canadian security agencies have been actively pursuing credible allegations of a potential link between agents of the Government of India and the killing of a Canadian citizen, Hardeep Singh Nijjar," Trudeau said.

He stressed that the involvement of a foreign hand or government in the killing of a Canadian citizen in Canada was unacceptable.

"Any involvement of a foreign government in the killing of a Canadian citizen on Canadian soil is an unacceptable violation of our sovereignty. It is contrary to the fundamental rules by which free, open, and democratic societies conduct themselves," Trudeau added.

He also urged the Indian government to "cooperate with Canada to get to the bottom of this matter", CBC News reported.

He claimed that some Indo-Canadians were "angry" and "perhaps frightened right now", adding, "Let us not allow this to change us".