Canada and India fall out over the Nijjar killing

Who: Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Foreign Minister Mélanie Joly, Public Safety Minister Dominic LeBlanc and RCMP Commissioner Mike Duheme; India's Ministry of External Affairs and Prime Minister Narendra Modi; later Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney. India denies any role in the killing of Hardeep Singh Nijjar.

What:

• 18 September 2023: Trudeau told the House of Commons that Canadian security agencies were pursuing "credible allegations" of a potential link between agents of the government of India and Nijjar's killing. Joly announced the expulsion of Pavan Kumar Rai, whom she named as head of India's foreign intelligence service, RAW, in Canada. India called the allegations "absurd and motivated" and ordered a senior Canadian diplomat out within five days.
• 21 September 2023: India's visa centre in Canada suspended services. Canada had already cancelled a fall trade mission, and a trade deal was on pause.
• 19 October 2023: Canada withdrew 41 diplomats and 42 dependents after India demanded parity in numbers. Joly called the demand unprecedented and said Canada would not retaliate.
• 14 October 2024: The RCMP said it had linked agents of the Indian government to serious criminal activity in Canada, and LeBlanc called it a grave violation of Canada's sovereignty. Canadian media, citing an unnamed senior official, reported that Canada expelled six Indian diplomats, including the high commissioner, and The Globe and Mail reported that the RCMP believed the six were involved in the plot to kill Nijjar. India said it was withdrawing its high commissioner, rejected the allegations and expelled six Canadian diplomats.
• 17 June 2025: Modi and Carney met at the G7 summit in Kananaskis, Alberta, and agreed to restore high commissioners and restart stalled trade talks.

Where: Ottawa and New Delhi, with the killing itself at a gurdwara in Surrey, British Columbia.

Why it mattered: A Canadian prime minister told Parliament that agents of a foreign government may have taken part in a killing on Canadian soil. India rejected the claim as absurd, AP noted on 21 September 2023 that Canada had not yet provided evidence, and no court has decided the case. The 2024 steps moved from a political statement to a police one, with the RCMP going public about the Indian government's alleged activity. The June 2025 reset came eight months after the expulsions, while the case against four accused was still pending.