Canada-India ties could take a long time to recover

NEW DELHI (AP) — A diplomatic row that has strained bilateral relations between India and Canada for over a year has boiled over as the countries expelled each other’s top diplomats over the killing of a Sikh activist in Canada and allegations of other crimes.

Experts say the diplomatic standoff will make it difficult for both countries to move forward with a once-promising partnership, and could impact India’s ambitions as it tries to project itself as a rising world power.

“India-Canada bilateral relations, which have been on a downslide since last year, will take a further hit which will take a long time to repair,” said Praveen Donthi, senior analyst with the International Crisis Group.

Monday’s tit-for-tat expulsions came after Canada told India on Sunday that its top diplomat in the country is a person of interest in the 2023 assassination of Sikh activist Hardeep Singh Nijjar, and that police have uncovered evidence of an intensifying campaign against Canadian citizens by agents of the Indian government.

Canadian Foreign Minister, Mélanie Joly also tied five other expelled Indian officials to Nijjar’s assassination and said Canada had gathered “ample, clear and concrete evidence which identified six individuals as persons of interest in the Nijjar case.”

India foreign ministry rejected the accusations as absurd, and said it was expelling Canada’s acting high commissioner and five other diplomats in response.

New Delhi’s anxieties about Sikh separatist groups have long been a strain on its relationship with Canada, where some 2% of the population is Sikh. India has increasingly accused Justin Trudeau’s government of giving free rein to Sikh separatists from a once-strong movement to create an independent Sikh