India denies Canadian allegation that it uses mobsters to target Sikh separatists in Canada

New Delhi -

India's government on Thursday denied it was working with mobsters to target Sikh separatists in Canada as alleged publicly this week by Canadian officials in an escalating diplomatic dispute.

But Canada is not the only country that has accused Indian officials of plotting an assassination on foreign soil. The U.S. Justice Department announced criminal charges against an Indian government employee Thursday in connection with an alleged foiled plot to kill a Sikh separatist leader living in New York City.

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In the case announced by the Justice Department Vikash Yadav, who authorities say directed the New York plot from India, faces murder-for-hire charges in a planned killing that prosecutors have previously said was meant to precede a string of other politically motivated murders in the United States and Canada.

The Indian government didn't immediately provide comment on the U.S. charge but earlier Thursday India's External Affairs Ministry spokesman Randhir Jaiswal denied that India was in cahoots with India-based mobsters in Canada and even suggested that Canadian authorities had been resisting India's attempts to extradite those people to India.

"It is strange that people who we asked to be deported" are being blamed by the Canadians for "committing crimes in Canada," Jaiswal said.

A photograph of late temple president Hardeep Singh Nijjar is seen on a banner outside the Guru Nanak Sikh Gurdwara Sahib, in Surrey, B.C., Sept. 18, 2023. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and police officials went public this week with allegations that Indian diplomats were targeting Sikh separatists in Canada by sharing information about them with their government back home. They said top Indian officials were then passing that information along to Indian organized crime groups who were targeting the activists, who are Canadian citizens, with drive-by shootings, extortions and even murder.

The two sides ordered the expulsion of top diplomats this week in the deepening crisis over the accusations, including Canada's allegation that t he diplomats were linked to the June 2023 killing of Sikh activist Hardeep Singh Nijjar.

The U.S. criminal case was announced the same week as two members of an Indian inquiry committee investigating the plot were in Washington to meet with U.S. officials about the investigation. Canadian officials say Indian officials have not been cooperative in the Canadian case.

The Nijjar killing in Canada has soured India-Canada ties for more than a year, and despite Canada's assertion that it has forwarded evidence of its allegations to Indian authorities, the Indian government continues to deny it has seen any.

Jaiswal said again on Thursday that Canada has provided no evidence of its allegations surrounding attacks on Sikh activists, contradicting Trudeau's statements this week that his country's investigators have privately shared information with Indian counterparts and found them to be uncooperative.

At the same time, Jaiswal accused Canada of failing to take action against Sikhs living in Canada who face terrorism charges in India and who are accused of being part of a Sikh secessionist campaign in India's northern Punjab state.

Jaiswal said India's 26 extradition requests have been pending in Canada for a decade or more. He also said that several criminals had provisional arrest requests pending with Canadian authorities.

"Some of them are charged with terror and terror-related crimes (in India). So far, no action has been taken by the Canadian side on our requests. This is very serious," Jaiswal said.

• Ambassador to U.S. calls American response to Canada's allegations against India 'strong'

India has repeatedly criticized the Canadian government for being soft on supporters of what is known as the Khalistan movement, which is banned in India but has support among the Sikh diaspora, particularly in Canada.

Trudeau said Wednesday that Indian Prime Minister Narenda Modi underlined to him at a G-20 summit in India last year that he wanted Canada to arrest people who have been outspoken against the Indian government. Trudeau said he told Modi that he felt the actions fall within free speech in Canada.

Trudeau added that he told Modi his government would work with India on concerns about terrorism, incitement of hate or anything that is unacceptable in Canada. But Trudeau also noted that advocating for separatism, though not Canadian government policy, is not illegal in Canada.

The Royal Canadian Police said Monday it had identified India's top diplomat in the country and five other diplomats as persons of interest in the Nijjar killing. The RCMP also said they uncovered evidence of an intensifying campaign against Canadians by agents of the Indian government.

Nijjar, 45, was fatally shot last year in his pickup truck after he left the Sikh temple he led in Surrey, British Columbia. An Indian-born citizen of Canada, he owned a plumbing business and was a leader in what remains of a once-strong movement to create an independent Sikh homeland.

Four Indian nationals living in Canada were charged with Nijjar's murder and are awaiting trial.

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AP reporters Matthew Lee in Washington and Rob Gillies in Toronto contributed.