India's Remaining Diplomats ‘Clearly On Notice’: Canada Foreign Minister

The remaining Indian diplomats in Canada "clearly on notice" after six diplomats were expelled recently, Minister of Foreign Affairs Mlanie Joly said on Friday.

She stated that the Canadian government would not endanger the lives of her people and not tolerate any diplomats who contravened the Vienna Convention.

Her statement comes days after Canada expelled India's high commissioner and five others. "We've never seen that in our history. That level of transnational repression cannot happen on Canadian soil. We've seen it elsewhere in Europe. Russia has done that in Germany and the UK and we needed to stand firm on this issue," the minister said.

When asked whether other diplomats will be expelled, Joly said: "They are clearly on notice. Six of them have been expelled including the high commissioner in Ottawa. Others were mainly from Toronto and Vancouver and clearly we won't tolerate any diplomats that are in contravention of the Vienna convention."

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) made public allegations this week that Indian diplomats were sharing information about Sikh separatists in Canada with their government in India.

The RCMP also pointed to the involvement of the infamous Bishnoi crime gang, accusing senior Indian officials of providing information about Sikh separatists to organized crime groups in India, who then targeted the activists.

Tensions between India and Canada significantly worsened after Prime Minister Trudeau accused Indian agents of "potential" involvement in the assassination of Hardeep Singh Nijjar, who was shot dead in Surrey, British Columbia, last September.