Canada Expels Indian Diplomat as It Investigates India's Possible Link to Sikh Activist's Slaying

TORONTO (AP) Canada expelled a top Indian diplomat Monday as it investigates what Prime Minister Justin Trudeau called credible allegations that Indias government may have had links to the assassination in Canada of a Sikh activist.

Trudeau said in Parliament that Canadian intelligence agencies have been looking into the allegations after Sikh leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar, a strong supporter of an independent Sikh homeland known as Khalistan, was gunned down on June 18 outside a Sikh cultural center in Surrey, British Columbia.

Trudeau told Parliament that he brought up the slaying with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the G-20 last week, that he told Modi that any Indian government involvement would be unacceptable and that he asked for cooperation in the investigation.

Canadian Foreign Minister Mlanie Joly said the head of Indian intelligence in Canada has been expelled as a consequence. If proven true this would be a great violation of our sovereignty and of the most basic rule of how countries deal with each other, Joly said. As a consequence we have expelled a top Indian diplomat.