Canada and India each expelled six diplomats on Monday in a tit-for-tat escalation over the assassination of a Sikh activist in Canada in June 2023.

A senior Canadian official confirmed that Canada expelled six Indian diplomats, including the high commissioner, after police uncovered evidence of violent criminal activity tied to the Indian government.

Shortly after, India’s foreign ministry announced it was expelling six Canadian diplomats. Earlier that day, India had rejected Canada’s claim that the Indian ambassador was a “person of interest” in the June 2023 assassination and began withdrawing its diplomats.

According to a second senior Canadian official, Canada expelled the Indian diplomats before India’s withdrawal.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau previously stated that there were credible allegations linking the Indian government to the assassination of Sikh activist Hardeep Singh Nijjar in June 2023.

Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) Commissioner Mike Duheme revealed that police have evidence allegedly connecting Indian government agents to homicides and other violent crimes in Canada, though he withheld further details.

“The team has learned a significant amount of information about the breadth and depth of criminal activity orchestrated by agents of the government of India, and consequential threats to the safety and security of Canadians and individuals living in Canada,” Mr Duheme said.

RCMP Assistant Commissioner Brigitte Gauvin called it extremely concerning.

“Indian diplomats and consular officials are to protect the interests of their nationals based in Canada and their national interest and not to be part of criminal activity or intimidation, so we take that very seriously. That is without a doubt a contravention of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations,” Ms Gauvin said.

India has rejected the accusation as absurd.

In June 2023, Hardeep Singh Nijjar, 45, was fatally shot while in his car after leaving the Sikh temple he led in Surrey, British Columbia. A Canadian citizen originally from India, Nijjar owned a plumbing business and was a prominent leader in the dwindling movement advocating for an independent Sikh homeland.

India had labeled Nijjar a terrorist in 2020 and, at the time of his death, was seeking his arrest for his alleged involvement in an attack on a Hindu priest.

Following the assassination allegations, India demanded that Canada reduce its diplomatic presence, ordering the removal of 41 out of 62 Canadian diplomats. Relations between the two nations have remained tense ever since.

The Indian foreign ministry said on Monday that “India reserves the right to take further steps in response to the Trudeau government’s support for extremism, violence and separatism against India”.

The ministry also summoned the top Canadian diplomat in New Delhi and told him that “the baseless targeting” of the Indian high commissioner, or ambassador and other diplomats and officials in Canada “was completely unacceptable”.

“We have no faith in the current Canadian government’s commitment to ensure their security,” it said.

Stewart Wheeler, the Canadian diplomat who was directed to leave India, told reporters after being summoned that his government has shared “incredible and irrefutable evidence of ties between agents of the government of India and the murder of a Canadian citizen on Canadian soil”.

Mr Wheeler said India must investigate the allegations and that Canada “stands ready to co-operate with India”.