Tit-for-Tat: India expels senior Canadian diplomat, asks him to leave within 5 days

A senior Canadian diplomat has been expelled by the Indian government and asked him to leave the country within the next five days.Earlier today, Ministry of External Affairs summoned Canadian High Commissioner to India, Cameron MacKay and after the meeting it was informed that the senior Canadian diplomat has been expelled.MEA spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said, "The High Commissioner of Canada to India was summoned today and informed about the decision of the Government of India to expel a senior Canadian diplomat based in India. The Canadian diplomat has been asked to leave India within the next five days.""The decision reflects Government of India's growing concern at the interference of Canadian diplomats in our internal matters and their involvement in anti-India activities," Bagchi said.India on Tuesday outrightly rejected as "baseless" and "motivated" Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's claim of a "potential link between Indian government agents and the killing of a Khalistani separatist leader, and sought prompt legal action against anti-India elements operating from Canada.After Trudeau made the comments in Parliament, Canadian Foreign Minister Melanie Joly announced that a top Indian diplomat has been expelled from Canada.In a statement in Parliament, Trudeau claimed there were "credible allegations of a potential link between Indian government agents and the killing of Khalistani leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar in June.In strong reaction, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said the allegations of the Government of India's involvement in any act of violence in Canada are "absurd and motivated"."We have seen and reject the statement of the Canadian prime minister in their Parliament, as also the statement by their foreign minister," it said.It said "such unsubstantiated allegations seek to shift the focus from Khalistani terrorists and extremists, who have been provided shelter in Canada and continue to threaten India's sovereignty and territorial integrity." "The inaction of the Canadian Government on this matter has been a long-standing and continuing concern," the MEA said.The MEA said similar allegations were made by the Canadian Prime Minister to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and were completely rejected," it said.With inputs from agencies