India has requested Canada to withdraw 41 out of its 62 diplomats from the country, according to an official who is knowledgeable about the situation, told the Financial Times. .This move has escalated tensions between the two countries due to Canadian allegations suggesting India's potential involvement in assassinating a Sikh separatist leader in British Columbia..During last month's G20 meeting in New Delhi, Prime Minister Trudeau had chilly relations with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Following these encounters, Canada subsequently cancelled a trade mission to India scheduled for later this fall..The official chose to remain anonymous because they were not allowed to speak publicly, especially before any response from the Canadian government, expected later on Tuesday..In September, Trudeau addressed the Parliament and stated that there were "credible allegations" of Indian involvement in the killing of Hardeep Singh Nijjar, a 45-year-old Sikh leader who masked attackers shot in June in Surrey, BC..India has maintained that Nijjar had connections to terrorism, an accusation that Nijjar denied..Canada has almost two million people of Indian descent and the alleged killing of Nijjar is unprecedented. .India has accused Canada of allowing Sikh separatists, including individuals like Nijjar, to operate freely within its borders..India has cancelled visas for Canadians, but Canada has not retaliated for India’s actions..Previously, India expelled a senior Canadian diplomat in response to Canada's expulsion of a senior Indian diplomat. This exchange of diplomatic actions reflected the strained relations between the two countries..The accusation of India's potential involvement in the assassination is partially based on the surveillance of Indian diplomats in Canada, which includes intelligence shared by an ally, as stated by another Canadian official in a previous statement to The Associated Press..The official explained the communications in question implicated Indian officials and Indian diplomats in Canada. Some of this intelligence came from a member of the "Five Eyes" intelligence-sharing alliance, which consists of the United States, United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand and Canada..Nijjar, who worked as a plumber, was a prominent figure in what remains of a previously influential movement seeking to establish an independent Sikh homeland called Khalistan..North India experienced a violent and prolonged Sikh insurgency that spanned a decade during the late 1970s and early 1980s. This insurgency ended through a government crackdown, resulting in the deaths of thousands of individuals, including Sikh leaders..While the Khalistan movement has considerably diminished in terms of its political influence, it still maintains supporters within the Indian state of Punjab and among the Sikhs living outside of India..The active insurgency ended years ago, but the Indian government has repeatedly warned that Sikh separatist groups have been attempting to stage a resurgence.
