Canada accuses India's Amit Shah of making plots against Sikh leaders

OTTAWA: Indian Minister of Home Affairs Amit Shah, a close associate of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, is behind hatching plots against Sikh leaders on Canadian soil, says the government of Canada on Tuesday. 

The Indian government has dismissed Canada's prior accusations as baseless, denying any involvement.

The Washington Post newspaper first reported that Canadian officials alleged Shah was behind a campaign of violence and intimidation targeting Sikh leaders in Canada.

Canadian Deputy Foreign Affairs Minister David Morrison said to a parliamentary panel on Tuesday that he told the US-based newspaper that Shah was behind the plots.

"The journalist called me and asked if it (Shah) was that person. I confirmed it was that person," Morrison told the committee, without providing further details or evidence. The High Commission of India in Ottawa and the Indian foreign ministry had no immediate comment.

India has called Sikh leaders "terrorists" and threats to its security. Sikh leaders demand an independent homeland known as Khalistan to be carved out of India. An insurgency in India during the 1980s and 1990s killed tens of thousands.

That period included the 1984 anti-Sikh riots that left thousands dead following the assassination of then-Prime Minister Indira Gandhi by her Sikh bodyguards after she ordered security forces to storm the holiest Sikh temple to flush out Sikh leaders.

Canada in mid-October expelled Indian diplomats, linking them to the 2023 murder of Sikh leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar on Canadian soil. India also ordered the expulsion of Canadian diplomats.

The Canadian case is not the only instance of India's alleged targeting of Sikh leaders on foreign soil.

Washington has charged a former Indian intelligence officer, Vikash Yadav, for allegedly directing a foiled plot to murder Sikh leader Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, a dual US-Canadian citizen and Indian critic in New York City.

The FBI warned against such a retaliation aimed at a US resident. India has said little publicly since announcing in November 2023 it would formally investigate the US allegations.

The accusations have tested Washington and Ottawa's relations with India, often viewed by the West as a counterbalance to China.