Foreign Affairs Minister Melanie Joly says Indian diplomats in Canada are “on notice” after she was asked whether more expulsions could come amid the diplomatic row between India and Canada.
“They’re clearly on notice,” Joly said in response to the question, speaking of other Indian diplomats following the expulsion of six earlier this week.
“Clearly we won’t tolerate any diplomats that are in contravention of the Vienna Convention and clearly any diplomats from any country from around the world that would be putting the lives of Canadians at risk.”
Joly’s comments come just days after both countries expelled each other’s diplomats on Monday, with Ottawa having done so “in relation to a targeted campaign against Canadian citizens by agents linked to the government of India.”
Global News has learned agents working out of India’s high commission in Ottawa and consulates in Vancouver and Toronto were allegedly behind dozens of violent crimes across Canada that targeted opponents of the Narendra Modi government.
Although on paper they held diplomatic and consular positions, the Indian agents allegedly played key roles in a wave of shootings, killings, threats, arsons and extortions in Canada, according to senior sources familiar with the matter.
The victims were mostly supporters of the Khalistan movement, which seeks independence for India’s Sikh-majority Punjab region. But others were simply rivals of the government, the sources said.
The revelations came as Canadian law enforcement continues to probe the killing of Hardeep Singh Nijjar in Surrey, B.C., where the killers were allegedly linked to the Indian government.
Making the allegations public was an “extraordinary measure” by the RCMP, Joly said on Friday, adding that the alleged actions by India were something not seen before in Canadian history.
“That level of transnational repression cannot happen on Canadian soil,” she said. “We’ve seen it elsewhere in Europe, Russia has done that in Germany and the U.K., but we needed to stand firm on this issue.”