Narendra Modi condemns attack on Hindu temple in Canada as tensions rise

Indian prime minister blames Sikh activists for clash in Brampton over which three people have been arrested

India’s prime minister, Narendra Modi, has condemned a “deliberate attack” on a Hindu temple in Canada, blaming Sikh activists for the violent clash at a time of escalating diplomatic tensions between the two countries.

Videos on social media showed demonstrators protesting outside the Hindu Sabha Mandir temple in the city of Brampton, where Indian diplomats were visiting ahead of Diwali celebrations. Some protesters held yellow Khalistan flags, representing a region of India they hope to one day carve out as a Sikh homeland.

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Canada alleges Indian minister behind plot to target Sikh separatists

Parliamentary committee told of Narendra Modi ally’s alleged role in campaign of violence and threats

The Canadian government has publicly alleged that India’s home affairs minister, Amit Shah, the prime minister, Narendra Modi’s, closest political ally, was behind a recent series of plots to murder and intimidate Sikh separatists on Canadian soil.

Testifying before a parliamentary committee, the Canadian deputy foreign affairs minister, David Morrison, acknowledged he had leaked information to the Washington Post about Shah’s alleged role in a campaign of violence and threats against the Sikh diaspora over the last few years.

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Two men plead guilty to contract killing of Sikh man in Canada but don’t say who hired them

Tanner Fox and Jose Lopez trade blows in court after confessing to shooting Ripudaman Singh Malik

Two men have pleaded guilty to the contract killing of a Sikh man who was acquitted in the 1985 bombing of an Air India flight from Montreal to Mumbai.

According to an agreed statement of facts released by a British Columbia court on Monday, Tanner Fox and Jose Lopez confessed to shooting Ripudaman Singh Malik in 2022. But they remained silent over who hired and paid them for the murder.

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Tuesday briefing: Canada puts India ‘on notice’ as row over alleged killing of Sikh activists escalates

In today’s newsletter: Justin Trudeau says there are ‘credible allegations’ that Modi’s government was involved in the killing of a Sikh separatist in British Columbia. What does say about India’s global standing?

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Good morning.

In September 2023, Justin Trudeau stood up in parliament and made extraordinary allegations against the Indian government. The prime minister said Canadian authorities were investigating “credible allegations” about the potential involvement of Indian officials in the murder of Hardeep Singh Nijjar, a Canadian Sikh separatist activist in British Columbia.

Middle East | Israel has accused Hezbollah of keeping hundreds of millions of dollars in cash and gold in a bunker under a hospital in the southern suburbs of Beirut, though it said it would not strike the complex. The Sahel hospital in Dahiyeh was evacuated shortly afterwards, and Fadi Alame, its director, told Reuters that the allegations were untrue.

Labour | A cross-party group of 30 MPs has urged Rachel Reeves to impose a 2% tax on wealth above £10m on Britain’s rich in next week’s budget rather than announce spending cuts that would hit the most poor hardest.

Ukraine | Britain is to lend Ukraine an additional £2.26bn and allow Kyiv to spend the money on weapons to fight off the Russian invasion as part of a wider $50bn (£38.5bn) loan programme expected to be confirmed by G7 members later this week.

Sudan | Refugees and aid agencies have warned of deteriorating conditions in overcrowded camps in Chad, as intensifying violence and a hunger crisis in Sudan drive huge numbers across the border. About 25,000 people – the vast majority women and children – crossed into eastern Chad in the first week of October. Read an explainer.

European Union | Moldovans have voted by a razor-thin majority in favour of joining the EU, nearly final results showed on Monday after a pivotal referendum clouded by allegations of Russian interference. With 50.18% supporting EU membership, the decision was much closer than pre-referendum polls suggested.

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Indian diplomats put ‘on notice’ in Canada after links to anti-Sikh activity uncovered

Canada expelled six Indian diplomats as fallout continues from 2023 killing of Canadian Sikh Hardeep Singh Nijjar

Canada’s foreign minister has warned India’s remaining diplomats in the country that they are “clearly on notice” not to endanger Canadian lives after New Delhi’s top envoy in Canada was named a person of interest in the assassination of a Sikh activist.

India’s high commissioner was expelled on Monday along with five other diplomats, prompting the Canadian foreign minister, Mélanie Joly, to compare India to Russia, saying Canada’s national police force has linked Indian diplomats to homicides, death threats and intimidation in Canada.

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US charges former Indian spy allegedly linked to foiled murder plot

Justice department says Vikash Yadav, who remains at large, planned to murder a Sikh separatist in New York

The United States has charged a former Indian intelligence officer who allegedly directed a foiled plot to murder a Sikh separatist in New York City last year.

An indictment of Vikash Yadav was ordered to be unsealed on Thursday, court records showed. Yadav was a former officer in India’s Research and Analysis Wing spy service, the records said. He remains at large.

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Trudeau: India made ‘horrific mistake’ in violating Canadian sovereignty

Canada prime minister testifies at public inquiry amid worsening diplomatic row over murder of Sikh separatist

Justin Trudeau has accused India of making a “horrific mistake” in violating Canadian sovereignty, amid an escalating diplomatic row over the murder of a Sikh separatist in British Columbia and allegations of a broader campaign of threats and violence against Indian exiles.

Testifying at a public inquiry into foreign interference on Wednesday, the Canadian prime minister accused Delhi of rebuffing efforts to cooperate and causing the increasingly bitter public feud that resulted in the mutual expulsion of senior diplomats on Monday.

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UK says India’s cooperation with Canada’s legal process is ‘right next step’

Growing diplomatic row as police say they have evidence of Delhi’s links to murder of Sikh leader in Canada

Britain joined its Five Eyes intelligence partners on Wednesday in saying India’s cooperation with Canada’s legal process was “the right next step” in the deepening diplomatic row between the two countries, adding that it had full confidence in Canada’s judicial system.

Canadian police said on Monday they had credible evidence that Indian agents including India’s high commissioner to Canada were linked to the murder of the Sikh leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar on Canadian soil in June 2023 and accused Delhi of a broader effort to target Indian dissidents in Canada.

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Canadian police accuse India of working with criminal network to kill dissidents

Modi government agents alleged to have collaborated with syndicate run by mob boss Lawrence Bishnoi

Canadian police have accused the Indian government of working with a criminal network run by one of India’s most notorious gangsters, Lawrence Bishnoi, to carry out targeted killings of dissidents in Canada.

A diplomatic row broke out between India and Canada on Monday after Canadian police accused Indian diplomats of “criminal” activities in the country, including extortion, intimidation, coercion and harassment, and involvement in targeted killings of Canadian citizens.

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British activist denied bail after years in Indian jail without trial

Jagtar Singh Johal is being arbitrarily detained and targeted for his human rights activism, say campaigners

Delhi’s high court has denied bail to the British activist Jagtar Singh Johal, who has been imprisoned in India for nearly seven years, in seven cases brought against him by the country’s National Investigations Agency.

The ruling has shocked family and supporters who claim it should jolt the British government into recognising that Johal is not receiving justice at the hands of the Indian legal system.

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Indian suspect in plot to kill Sikh separatist pleads not guilty in US court

Nikhil Gupta accused of plotting to kill US resident who has advocated for sovereign Sikh state in northern India

An Indian man suspected by the US of involvement in an unsuccessful plot to kill a Sikh separatist on American soil has pleaded not guilty to murder-for-hire conspiracy charges in a federal court in Manhattan.

Nikhil Gupta, 52, has been accused by US federal prosecutors of plotting with an Indian government official to kill Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, a US resident who has advocated for a sovereign Sikh state in northern India.

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Canada: second Sikh activist’s house hit by gunfire this month

Bullet hole found in Inderjit Singh Gosal’s house, reigniting fears of apparent campaign of violence targeting Sikh separatists

The house of a Sikh activist in Canada has been hit by gunfire, in the second such incident this month, reigniting fears of an apparent transnational campaign of violence and intimidation targeting Sikh separatists.

A construction crew found a bullet hole in a window of an unfinished house in the city of Brampton, Ontario, on Monday, according to the the US-based group Sikhs for Justice.

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Family of Sikh activist call for new UK investigation into his death

Family of Avtar Singh Khanda, 35, say Home Office decision could allay fears of Sikhs in UK of being targeted by India

The family of the late Sikh activist Avtar Singh Khanda have called on the Home Office to appoint a police force to conduct a full and independent investigation into his sudden death last June, which coincided with a murder and an attempted murder of Sikh separatists in Canada and the US.

Khanda’s family lawyer, Michael Polak, said that a decision by the Home Office to launch an investigation would alleviate concerns among the Sikh community that they could be targeted by India and that their safety and rights were being sacrificed for “political expediency”.

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Indian police accused of harassing Sikh activist in UK before his sudden death

Family of Avtar Khanda question UK authorities’ account that his death was reviewed by police and that there was no foul play

A Sikh activist in Birmingham complained that Indian police were verbally harassing him by phone and threatening his family in Punjab months before his sudden death in June, a Guardian investigation has found.

The death of Avtar Singh Khanda, which family and friends have said was suspicious, coincided with a plot that was playing out across the Atlantic where, US prosecutors have alleged, an Indian government official with close ties to Indian intelligence was ordering the murder of high-profile Sikh activists in Canada and the US.

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Sikh activist accuses India of ‘transnational terrorism’ after US foils plot to kill him

Gurpatwant Singh Pannun makes comments after Washington raised concerns Indian government may known of plot

A prominent Sikh activist who was reportedly the target of a foiled assassination attempt on US soil has accused India of “transnational terrorism” after Washington raised concerns the Indian government may have had knowledge of the plot.

The Financial Times reported on Wednesday that the US had thwarted the plot to kill Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, an American and Canadian citizen, after the June murder of another Sikh separatist leader, Hardeep Singh Nijjar, in a Vancouver suburb.

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Canada investigates alleged ‘threats’ against Air India after boycott call

Officials launch investigation after separatist leader posts video warning Sikhs against flying with airline on 19 November

Canadian officials and the Royal Canadian Mounted police are investigating alleged “threats” against Air India after a separatist leader warned Sikhs against flying with the airline on 19 November.

The US-based activist Gurpatwant Singh Pannun posted a video last week in which he called for a boycott of India’s flagship carrier.

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India resumes visa services in Canada after row over killing of Sikh separatist

Tensions between the two countries peaked after Hardeep Singh Nijjar was murdered in Canada earlier this year

India’s embassy in Ottawa has announced that it will reopen visa services for Canadians, a move that could reduce tensions in a bitter dispute over the killing of a Sikh separatist on Canadian soil.

Relations between India and Canada plunged after Justin Trudeau, the prime minister, last month publicly linked Indian intelligence to the killing of Canadian citizen Hardeep Singh Nijjar, allegations New Delhi called “absurd”.

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Sikh separatists gather in London to protest after activists’ deaths

Demonstrators stage protest outside Indian high commission questioning UK government’s response to killings

Supporters of the Sikh separatist Khalistan movement gathered outside the Indian high commission in central London to call for the UK government to stand alongside Canada after the killing of a prominent Sikh leader.

Monday’s protest on Aldwych came two weeks after Canada’s prime minister, Justin Trudeau, said his government was looking at “credible allegations potentially linking” India with the killing of Hardeep Singh Nijjar, in British Columbia. Nijjar, who was 45, was killed on 18 June in a hail of gunfire outside his place of worship.

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FBI warned prominent US Sikhs of threats after murder of Hardeep Singh Nijjar in Canada

Revelation comes days after prime minister Justin Trudeau blamed the assassination of the Sikh activist on the Indian government

The FBI warned at least three Americans active in the Sikh community that their lives were in danger in the immediate aftermath of the murder of a Sikh activist in Canada last June.

Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau has blamed the apparent assassination on the Indian government, as assessment that has reportedly been backed by Canadian and US intelligence sources and has created a rupture in Ottawa’s relationship with Indian prime minister Narendra Modi’s government.

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‘His spirit is still among us’: Sikhs defiant in Canada city where activist was murdered

Colleagues say they knew Hardeep Singh Nijjar could be targeted by India for his role in Canada as a community leader

Justin Trudeau may have shocked the world this week when he linked “agents of India” to the murder of a Canadian citizen in British Columbia, but colleagues who worked alongside Sikh leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar before he was shot dead this summer said the link was already clear.

“We’re not surprised,” said Gurkeerat Singh, a volunteer at the Surrey temple that Nijjar led from 2019 until his death on 18 June. “The whole community knew who was behind it. We knew that Hardeep Singh Nijjar could be targeted by the Indian state for his role as a community leader advocating for human rights and for a separate Sikh state.”

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