New Delhi: India’s Ministry of External Affairs announced on Saturday that it had formally protested against recent allegations from Canada implicating India’s Home Minister Amit Shah in supposed plots against Sikh separatists residing in Canada. The ministry also raised concerns over reported Canadian surveillance on certain Indian consular staff.
The accusations, initially reported by The Washington Post in October, assert that Canadian officials believe Shah—widely regarded as the second-most powerful figure in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s administration—was behind a campaign of violence and intimidation aimed at Sikh separatists within Canadian borders. Canadian Deputy Foreign Affairs Minister David Morrison recently disclosed to a parliamentary panel that he had previously informed The Washington Post about Shah’s alleged involvement.
“It was conveyed in a note that the government of India protests in the strongest terms to the absurd and baseless references made to the Union Home Minister of India,” Indian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal stated at a press conference in New Delhi. Jaiswal criticized Canada’s “unfounded insinuations,” warning that such accusations could harm bilateral relations.
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Jaiswal also expressed concerns over Canada allegedly informing Indian consular officials that they were under audio and video surveillance. He described these actions as “harassment and intimidation”, although he did not specify when Canadian authorities communicated this information to the Indian consulate.
India has previously denied any involvement in the 2023 murder of Sikh separatist leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar on Canadian soil or any intimidation of dissidents. The ongoing diplomatic dispute has already resulted in reciprocal expulsions of diplomats from both countries, intensifying the strain in Indo-Canadian relations.
