MEA announced the decision after Canada said it was investigating the Indian High Commissioner to Canada and other diplomats as "persons of interest"
India asked Canadian diplomats in New Delhi to leave the country by Saturday (October 19, 2024). The decision came hours after the government decided to withdraw its High Commissioner in Canada on a day of rapidly escalating tensions between the two nations.

The decision was announced by the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) on Monday (October 14, 2024) after Canada said it was investigating the Indian High Commissioner to Canada and other diplomats as "persons of interest", after the killing Sikh separatist leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar last year.

The six Canadian diplomats who have been expelled are:
Acting High Commissioner Stewart Ross Wheeler, Deputy High Commissioner Patrick Hebert along with first secretaries Marie Catherine Joly, Ian Ross David Trites, Adam James Chuipka and Paula Orjuela. They have been asked to leave India before 11:59 pm on Saturday.

Earlier in the evening, the Canadian Charge d’Affaires was summoned by the MEA’s Secretary (East) and informed that the baseless targeting of the Indian High Commissioner and other diplomats and officials in Canada was completely unacceptable.

“It was underlined that in an atmosphere of extremism and violence, the Trudeau Government's actions endangered their safety. We have no faith in the current Canadian Government's commitment to ensure their security. Therefore, the Government of India has decided to withdraw the High Commissioner and other targeted diplomats and officials. It was also conveyed 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 MEA said.

During the day, the MEA strongly rejected Canada’s latest allegations about the involvement of top diplomats in the Nijjar murder case and described them as “preposterous imputations” that are part of the “political agenda” of Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau centred around “vote-bank politics”. In a strongly-worded statement, the MEA highlighted Prime Minister Trudeau’s “hostility to India” and his “naked interference in India’s internal politics”. 

“We have received a diplomatic communication from Canada yesterday suggesting that the Indian High Commissioner and other diplomats are ‘persons of interest’ in a matter related to an investigation in that country. The Government of India strongly rejects these preposterous imputations and ascribes them to the political agenda of the Trudeau Government that is centred around vote bank politics,” the MEA said in a statement.

The MEA called out the Canadian government for a “deliberate strategy of smearing India for political gains,” asserting that it had not shared a shred of evidence with the Indian government despite several requests.

“Since Prime Minister Trudeau made certain allegations in September 2023, the Canadian Government has not shared a shred of evidence with the Government of India, despite many requests from the Indian side. “This latest step follows interactions that have again witnessed assertions without any facts. This leaves little doubt that on the pretext of an investigation, there is a deliberate strategy of smearing India for political gains,” the MEA stated.

The MEA went on to say: “Prime Minister Trudeau’s hostility to India has long been in evidence. In 2018, his visit to India, which was aimed at currying favour with a vote bank, rebounded to his discomfort. His Cabinet has included individuals who have openly associated with an extremist and separatist agenda regarding India. His naked interference in Indian internal politics in December 2020 showed how far he was willing to go in this regard”.

The MEA statement maintained that Prime Minister Trudeau’s government had deliberately brought in India to mitigate the damage after criticism for turning a blind eye to foreign interference in Canadian politics, adding that the latest allegations also serve the anti-India separatist agenda that his government has constantly pandered to for narrow political gains.