Canada accuses top Modi ally of directing Sikh attacks

What happened

The Canadian government confirmed Tuesday that it believes Indian Home Minister Amit Shah, a close ally of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, was behind a campaign of violence and intimidation targeting Sikh separatists in Canada. Ottawa earlier this month publicly accused Indian embassy officials of involvement in the 2023 assassination of Sikh leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar in British Columbia and the broader plot against Sikh separatists, leading to Canada and India expelling each other's top diplomats.

Who said what

Canadian officials did not publicly name Shah, "described as India's 'second most powerful man,'" earlier this month, but The Washington Post reported his alleged masterminding of the Sikh violence plot, the CBC said. Yesterday, Canadian Deputy Foreign Affairs Minister David Morrison told a national security committee in Parliament that he was the Post's source. "The journalist called me and asked if it was that person. I confirmed it was that person," he said.

Morrison did not elaborate on the government's evidence against Shah. "Canada told India about Shah's alleged role in the plots around October 2023," Reuters said, citing an Indian government source, "but New Delhi thinks the information is very weak, flimsy and does not expect it to cause any trouble for Shah or the government."

The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

What next?

The U.S. Justice Department announced "murder-for-hire charges" against another Indian government employee earlier this month, The Associated Press said, accusing Vikash Yadav of directing a plot to assassinate a Sikh separatist in New York, a killing allegedly "meant to precede a string of other politically motivated murders in the United States and Canada." The accusations, Reuters said, "have tested Washington and Ottawa's relations with India, often viewed by the West as a counterbalance to China."