2LT International News

OTTAWA, Canada: India and Canada have restored diplomatic ties by appointing new high commissioners to each other’s capitals, ending a ten-month standoff that began after both expelled their top envoys over an alleged political assassination.

Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand announced that Christopher Cooter will become Canada’s new high commissioner to India. India’s foreign ministry said its envoy to Spain, Dinesh Patnaik, will soon take up the post in Ottawa.

Relations collapsed in June 2023, when Canadian police accused New Delhi of involvement in the assassination of Hardeep Singh Nijjar, a 45-year-old Sikh activist, near Vancouver. Nijjar, a Canadian citizen born in India, was shot dead in his pickup truck after leaving the Sikh temple he led in Surrey, British Columbia. He also ran a plumbing business and was a prominent supporter of a separate Sikh homeland.

Four Indian nationals living in Canada have been charged with his murder.

Canadian police say they have evidence of a broader campaign against Canadian citizens by Indian government agents. Former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau accused Indian diplomats of sending information about Canadians to New Delhi, which was allegedly passed on to organized crime groups and used to target individuals.

Trudeau said this violated Canada’s sovereignty, while India dismissed the claims as baseless.

Canada is not alone in raising such concerns. The U.S. Justice Department filed charges last year against an Indian government official over an alleged plot to assassinate a Sikh separatist leader in New York City.

Tensions between Ottawa and New Delhi began to ease in June this year when Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney invited Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the G7 summit in Alberta. The two leaders agreed to restore ambassador-level representation.

India has long accused Canada of tolerating supporters of the Khalistan movement, which seeks an independent Sikh state. While the movement is banned in India, it retains influence among the Sikh diaspora, especially in Canada, where Sikhs make up about two percent of the population.

Cooter, who will now head Canada’s mission in New Delhi, has 35 years of diplomatic experience, including postings in Israel, South Africa, and India 25 years ago.