(Commonwealth_India) As diplomatic tensions between India and Canada continue to escalate, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) in New Delhi expressed grave concerns on Thursday regarding the increasing threats to Indian diplomats in Ottawa. During a media briefing, MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal stated that the security situation for Indian diplomats had deteriorated, highlighting the failure of the Canadian authorities to provide the requested security measures for Indian consular staff. He emphasized that over the past year, Indian diplomats have been subjected to numerous incidents of harassment, intimidation, and threats, exacerbating an already challenging environment.
“The threat to Indian diplomats in Canada has intensified, and their security situation is increasingly precarious,” Jaiswal remarked, adding that Indian consular staff had also been placed under surveillance, which India views as wholly unacceptable. The Indian government has formally raised these concerns with the Canadian authorities, calling for a swift and decisive response to protect its diplomatic personnel.
The attack on a Hindu temple in Brampton, Canada, which New Delhi strongly condemned, has significantly strained diplomatic relations between the two countries, setting the stage for Jaiswal’s comments. The Indian Ministry of External Affairs has demanded that the Canadian government take necessary action to uphold the rule of law and bring the perpetrators of the violence to justice. This has only added to the ongoing friction, which intensified after Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s allegations that Indian government officials were involved in the assassination of Khalistani extremist Hardeep Singh Nijjar.
In June 2023, a Sikh temple in Surrey, British Columbia, saw the shooting death of Nijjar, a Canadian citizen and prominent Khalistani figure. New Delhi has vehemently rejected Canada’s claim of evidence linking Indian officials to the murder. India has dismissed these allegations as “absurd” and has pointed out that Nijjar was a designated terrorist under Indian law, involved in separatist activities linked to the Khalistan movement.
In response to the allegations, India took significant diplomatic action. Last month, it withdrew its high commissioner to Canada, Sanjay Kumar Verma, and several other diplomatic staff members. India also expelled six Canadian diplomats, prompting an immediate reciprocal move by Ottawa, which expelled an equal number of Indian diplomats. This reciprocal exchange of expulsions has further intensified the situation, leading to an increasingly hostile diplomatic standoff between both countries.
Jaiswal addressed these developments, noting that the Canadian government’s actions have further precariously increased the already extreme and violent environment in which Indian consular staff operate. He stressed that the Canadian government’s failure to protect Indian diplomats and its decision to subject them to surveillance are in direct violation of established diplomatic norms and conventions.
India has also raised alarms over the surveillance of its consular personnel in Ottawa, describing the interception of their communications—both audio and video—as a severe breach of international law. The MEA asserts that these actions clearly violate the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations (1961) and the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations (1963), which aim to protect the privacy and security of diplomatic missions and consular staff.
As tensions continue to rise, Canada’s Foreign Minister Melanie Joly reiterated that Ottawa had placed India’s remaining diplomats “on notice” following the expulsion of Canadian diplomats. She also pointed to the continued investigation into the killing of Hardeep Singh Nijjar, for which Canada has expressed concern over India’s role. Joly described the actions of the Indian diplomats as indicative of a broader pattern of interference in Canadian sovereignty.
However, New Delhi has firmly rejected these assertions, reiterating that it would not share any information or evidence related to the case unless Canada provides verifiable proof to back its claims. The Indian government has insisted that it is not involved in the killing of Nijjar and has expressed doubts about the integrity of Canada’s investigations into the matter.
The broader geopolitical and domestic context further complicates this diplomatic crisis. Both India and Canada remain sensitive to the Khalistani issue, as a certain section of the significant Sikh community in Canada frequently expresses vocal support for Khalistani separatism, a movement that India has banned and hardly has any support among the Sikh community within India. The complex relationship between India and Canada exacerbates the tensions, as New Delhi views Canada’s handling of the Khalistani issue as a matter of internal security.
In this charged atmosphere, the ongoing expulsion of diplomats and the growing security threats against Indian consular staff raise serious concerns about the safety of foreign diplomats operating in both countries. As the standoff shows little sign of abating, the international community is closely monitoring the situation, with calls for dialogue and de-escalation to prevent further deterioration of bilateral ties. Both nations now face the critical challenge of restoring diplomatic norms and ensuring the safety and security of diplomatic personnel amid these heightened tensions.
