India-Canada tensions: Trudeau dials UK PM Starmer as New Delhi expels 6 Canadian diplomats. Top points to know

Things have come to a head between India and Canada after the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) claimed that a variety of entities in Canada and abroad were used by Indian agents to collect information and use details to target members of the South Asian community.

Following this, India decided to withdraw its High Commissioner to Canada and other targeted diplomats and officials from the country. The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said that Trudeau government's actions endangered their safety, while adding New Delhi does not have faith in the current Canadian government's commitment to ensure their security. 

"The Government of India strongly rejects these preposterous imputations and ascribes them to the political agenda of the Trudeau Government that is centered around vote bank politics," the MEA statement on Monday read.

The statement also accused the Trudeau government of providing space to violent terrorists and extremists to harass, threaten and intimidate Indian diplomats and community leaders in Canada. 

India vs Canada stalemate: Top 10 points to know

1. Amid rising tension with India, Justin Trudeau has dialed British PM Sir Keir Starmer to discuss the recent developments "related to a targeted campaign against Canadian citizens by agents linked to the Government of India."
2. As per a Canada PM's Office communique, the two heads of state discussed the need to ensure safety and security of their citizens and the importance of upholding and respecting the rule of law.
3. The statement said: "Prime Minister Trudeau underscored Canada's continuous interest in co-operation with India to address this serious matter." The two leaders, Trudeau and Starmer, agreed to remain in close and regular contact. 
4. Trudeau has also claimed in a press conference that the Indian government responded with denial and avoidance when the Canadian government reached out to seek cooperation with the probe. 
5. "So every step of the way we have apprised India of what we know. I've spoken directly with Prime Minister Modi. We have engaged with intelligence counterparts, and unfortunately, every step of the way, both after I made the statement in the House of Commons last September and till now, the response of the Indian government has been to deny, to obfuscate, to attack me personally and the integrity of the government of Canada." he said.
6. The Indian government on Monday expelled 6 Canadian diplomats including Acting High Commissioner Stewart Ross Wheeler. They have been asked to leave India by or before 11:59 pm on October 19. 
7. Canada on Monday said that it expelled 6 Indian diplomats "in relation to a targeted campaign against Canadian citizens by agents linked to the Government of India."
8. Canadian Minister of Foreign Affairs Melanie Joly said in a press release that it is the Trudeau government's primary responsibility is to keep its citizens secure.
9. Joly added that it was decided to expel these diplomats after careful consideration and after the RCMP obtained abundant, clear, and solid evidence identifying six individuals as persons of interest in the Nijjar trial. 
10. "We continue to ask that the Indian government support the ongoing investigation in the Nijjar case, as it remains in both our countries’ interest to get to the bottom of this,” she said. 
11. In May 2024, the RCMP’s Integrated Homicide Investigative Team and the Federal Policing Programme Pacific Region announced the arrests of four individuals for their alleged involvement in the killing of Nijjar. Hardeep Singh Nijjar was gunned down in Surrey, British Columbia, in June last year. 
12. The relations between India and Canada came under severe strain following Trudeau's allegations in September last year of a "potential" involvement of Indian agents in the killing of Nijjar. At the time, New Delhi rejected Trudeau's charges as "absurd".

(With inputs from PTI)