The Ministry of External Affairs on Monday decided to withdraw its high commissioner in Canada after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's latest swipe at Indian diplomats relating to the probe into Khalistani separatist Hardeep Singh Nijjar's killing.
"We have no faith in the current Canadian Government's commitment to ensure their security," the government conveyed to the Canadian Charge d'Affaires who were summoned by the MEA.
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The ministry also said that it has 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 added.
The statement further added that India reserves the right to take further steps in response to the Trudeau Government's support for extremism, violence and separatism against the country.
A recent diplomatic communication from Canada to MEA suggesting that the Indian high commissioner and other diplomats as 'persons of interest' in a matter related to an investigation in the country further intensified the diplomatic tensions between both countries.
Meanwhile, while talking to the reporters, Canadian Charge d'Affaires Stewart Wheelers said, "Canada has provided credible, irrefutable evidence of ties between agents of the Government of India and the murder of a Canadian citizen on Canadian soil."
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"It is now time for India to live up to what it said it would do and look into all those allegations," Wheelers was quoted by ANI.
The India-Canada tensions escalated further after Trudeau tried to link the Indian high commissioner in the probe into the killing of Nijjar on June 8 last year.
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In a strong worded statement India has refuted the allegations against the High Commissioner Sanjay Kumar Verma. The charges against Verma are "preposterous imputations" and a "political agenda of the Trudeau government that is centred around vote bank politics."
"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 our side," the MEA said.
Since Trudeau alleged India's role in the killing of Nijjar in Surrey, British Columbia last year, the diplomatic ties between both countries became strained. India had refuted Canada's claims and termed them as "absurd" and "baseless".
MEA in its statement mentioned PM Trudeau's "naked interference" in Indian internal politics in December 2020. India also criticised Trudeau for including individuals associated with an extremist and separatist agenda regarding India in his Cabinet.
MEA said Verma is India's senior-most serving diplomat with a distinguished career spanning 36 years.