Timeline of tensions: How India-Canada relations soured

In an escalation of the ongoing diplomatic row between India and Canada over what the latter describes as a “campaign of violence” against Sikh separatists on Canadian soil, Ottawa expelled Indian high commissioner Sanjay Kumar Verma, alongside five other Indian diplomats on Monday.

It is the latest development in a dispute initially triggered by the murder of a Sikh separatist leader, Hardeep Singh Nijjar, in Canada in June 2023.

In a tit-for-tat move, India’s foreign ministry said New Delhi would expel six Canadian diplomats – including the acting high commissioner – and gave them until Saturday to leave the country.

But diplomatic tensions between India and Canada started before Nijjar’s killing. Here is a timeline of events leading up to the latest developments.

February 2018: Controversy over Trudeau’s India dinner

During a visit to India, Trudeau attended a formal dinner hosted by the Canadian High Commissioner in New Delhi. Canadian media said the purpose of Trudeau’s visit was to smooth diplomatic and trade relations with India after brewing tensions over what India perceived as support for Sikh separatism – namely, the Khalistan movement – in the Canadian diaspora.

Khalistan is the name of the proposed state envisioned by some Sikhs in a movement that emerged in India in the 1970s and early 1980s. While the original movement mostly died away, it has seen some resurgence among diasporic Sikh communities in Europe and North America, especially Canada, where 771,790 Sikhs live as of the 2021 census. Canada has the largest Sikh population outside of India’s Punjab.

The controversy over Trudeau’s dinner with the Canadian High Commissioner centred around Jaspal Singh Atwal, a Canadian-Indian former member of a Sikh separatist group called the International Sikh Youth Federation. The group is listed on Canada’s Public Safety Website as a “terrorist” organisation. Atwal, who was also invited to the dinner, had been convicted in Canada for being involved in a 1986 assassination attempt of the cabinet minister for India’s Punjab state.

Two days before the dinner in 2018, Atwal also attended another event linked to Trudeau’s visit and was photographed alongside the Canadian PM’s then-wife, Sophie Trudeau. This caused upset in India leading Trudeau to rescind the invitation to Atwal. He told Indian media that Atwal should not have been invited in the first place.

Atwal issued an apology at a news conference, saying: “I do not advocate for an independent Sikh nation. I, like the vast majority of Sikhs who once advocated for this cause, have reconciled with the nation of India.”

Protesters outside India’s consulate, after Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau raised the prospect of New Delhi’s involvement in the murder of Sikh separatist leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar in British Columbia, in Toronto, Ontario, Canada on September 25, 2023 [Carlos Osorio/Reuters]

In late 2020, hundreds of thousands of farmers in India marched to New Delhi to protest new agricultural laws which they said would damage their livelihoods. Police used tear gas and water canons to disperse the protesters.

Trudeau expressed his concern about the situation at an online event to mark the 551st birth anniversary of Guru Nanak, the founder of Sikhism.

The Canadian PM said that his country would “always be there to defend the rights of peaceful protest”.

India’s Ministry of External Affairs issued an angry response, saying: “We have seen some ill-informed comments by Canadian leaders relating to farmers in India. Such comments are unwarranted, especially when pertaining to the internal affairs of a democratic country.”

June 2023: The killing of Hardeep Singh Nijjar

Sikh separatist Hardeep Singh Nijjar, 45, was shot dead in Canada outside a Sikh temple on June 18. The temple was located in Surrey, a Vancouver city with a large population of Sikhs.

In 2020, he was assigned “terrorist” status by the Indian government. At the time of his death, Nijjar had been planning an unofficial referendum in India for an independent Sikh state.

Nijjar’s killing in June 2023 came after a build-up of tensions earlier that month. On June 8, India’s foreign minister, S Jaishankar, criticised Canada for allowing a parade float in Brampton, Ontario, depicting the 1984 assassination of former PM Indira Gandhi, who was killed by two of her Sikh bodyguards after she allowed the storming of a Sikh temple.

September 2023: Trade negotiations paused, G20 tensions

Canada unexpectedly paused trade negotiations with India on September 1. An explicit reason was not stated, but an unnamed Canadian official told Reuters news agency that the pause was “to take stock of where we are”. However the official did not elaborate on what this was in relation to.

On September 9 and 10, the G20 conference held in New Delhi further highlighted tensions between the two countries. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi held bilateral meetings with many world leaders, but snubbed Trudeau.

On September 15, a spokesperson for Canadian Trade Minister Mary Ng said Canada had postponed a trade mission to India, which had been scheduled for October but gave no particular reason.

On September 19, Ottawa expelled an Indian diplomat and India retaliated by expelling a Canadian diplomat. The expulsion came at the same time as Ottawa’s announcement that it was “actively pursuing credible allegations” linking Indian government agents to Nijjar’s murder.

India’s foreign ministry said in a statement the expulsion of the Canadian diplomat was over “growing concern at the interference of Canadian diplomats in our internal matters and their involvement in anti-India activities”.

India also suspended its visa operations in Canada on September 21, citing unspecified security threats. These visa restrictions were lifted in late October.

October 2023: Canada pulls 41 diplomats out of India

On October 19, Canada recalled 41 of its diplomats from India after the Indian government said it would revoke their diplomatic immunity and security protection for their relatives.

India’s foreign affairs ministry said: “The state of our bilateral relations, the much higher number of Canadian diplomats in India, and their continued interference in our internal affairs warrant a parity in mutual diplomatic presence in New Delhi and Ottawa.”

Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister Melanie Joly decried India’s threat to revoke diplomatic immunity as a violation of international law. However, she said Canada would continue to engage with India.

May 2024: Three men are arrested and charged with Nijjar’s death

The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) said on May 3 that three men had been arrested in an ongoing investigation into Nijjar’s killing.

The Indian nationals, Kamalpreet Singh, 22; Karanpreet Singh, 28; and Karan Brar, 22, were arrested in Edmonton, Alberta, and charged with first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit murder.

On May 11, Indian national Amandeep Singh, 22, was charged the same. He was already in custody of Canadian police for unrelated firearms charges. Canadian media reported he was in Canada on a temporary visa.

Canadian media reported that the case is ongoing and had been adjourned for the fifth time on October 1, 2024 while the Canadian government works to disclose case-related documents to the defence.

“This investigation does not end here. We are aware that others may have played a role in this homicide, and we remain dedicated to finding and arresting each one of these individuals,” RCMP Superintendent Mandeep Mooker told reporters.

October 2024: Canada expels six Indian diplomats

Canadian Minister of Foreign Affairs Melanie Joly said: “The RCMP gathered ample, clear and concrete evidence which identified six individuals as persons of interest in the Nijjar case,” in a statement on Monday.

At a news conference in Ottawa on Monday, Trudeau said evidence showed that Indian government agents had engaged in activities that “threaten public safety in Canada”, including “clandestine information-gathering techniques, coercive behaviour targeting South Asian Canadians, and involvement in over a dozen threatening and violent acts, including murder”.

He added that the details the RCMP is able to share at the moment are “extremely limited”, but the evidence brought forth by the RCMP “cannot be ignored”.

India rejected the accusations, deeming them “absurd” and in turn ordering the expulsion of Canada’s acting high commissioner and five other diplomats by Saturday.

A statement from the Indian foreign ministry on Monday said: “This latest step follows interactions that have again witnessed assertions without any facts. This leaves little doubt that on the pretext of an investigation, there is a deliberate strategy of smearing India for political gains.”

The foreign ministry statement went on to add: “The Trudeau Government has consciously provided space to violent extremists and terrorists to harass, threaten and intimidate Indian diplomats and community leaders in Canada.”