Foreign Minister Melanie Jolie said Indian diplomats in Canada are “aware” after she was asked if more expulsions could happen amid the diplomatic spat between India and Canada.
“They are clearly aware of this,” Jolie said in response to the question, speaking about other Indian diplomats after six of them were expelled earlier this week.
“It is clear that we will not tolerate any diplomats who violate the Vienna Convention, and we clearly will not tolerate any diplomats from any country from around the world who would put the lives of Canadians in danger.”
Jolie’s comments come just days after the two countries expelled each other’s diplomats on Monday, after Ottawa did so “in relation to a targeted campaign against Canadian citizens by agents associated with the Indian government.”
Agents working at the Indian High Commission in Ottawa and consulates in Vancouver and Toronto were behind dozens of violent crimes across Canada targeting opponents of the Narendra Modi government, Global News has learned.
Although they held diplomatic and consular posts on paper, Indian agents played key roles in a spate of shootings, killings, threats, arson and extortion in Canada, according to senior sources familiar with the matter.
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Most of the victims were supporters of the Khalistan movement, which seeks independence for India’s Sikh-majority Punjab region. Others were merely rivals of the government, the sources said.
The revelation came as Canadian law enforcement continues to investigate the killing of Hardeep Singh Nigar in Surrey, British Columbia, where the killers were allegedly linked to the Indian government.
Jolie said Friday that making the allegations public was an “extraordinary action” by the RCMP, adding that the alleged actions by India are something unprecedented in Canadian history.
“This level of cross-border repression cannot happen on Canadian soil,” she said. “We have seen this elsewhere in Europe, and Russia has done this in Germany and the UK, but we need to stand firm on this issue.”
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