On Jun 18mwplay888, 2023, Canadian citizen Hardeep Singh Nijjar, a separatist leader campaigning for an independent Sikh homeland carved out of India, was shot dead in Surrey, Vancouver.

Following his murder, Canada alleged that Indian government agents were involved. This sparked the beginning of souring relations between the two countries, which on Monday (Oct 14) culminated in both expelling each other’s top diplomats.

Canada kicked out six Indian diplomats - including the High Commissioner - alleging their direct involvement in Nijjar’s murder, and further accusing Indian agents of a broader effort to target Indian dissidents in Canada. India rejected the allegations as "preposterous" and retaliated by telling six Canadian diplomats to leave.

How did the ties between Ottawa and New Delhi hit rock bottom? 

How bad are bilateral relations?

The current rift between the countries is “the most serious crisis” since disagreements over India's nuclear testing in the 1990s, said Sanjay Ruparelia, associate professor of politics and public administration at Toronto Metropolitan University.

“But this is something quite different. This is an allegation that agents of the government of India had a hand in the killing … not just of Mr Nijjar, but others as well, and many cases of extortion and harassment and intimidation,” he told CNA938’s Asia First on Wednesday. 

He noted that Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s allegations last September in the House of Commons were “as serious as you could get”.

Related:What we know about the Sikh murder that soured India-Canada ties

While the public nature of Trudeau’s comments upset New Delhi, Ruparelia noted that Canada had tried to use quiet diplomacy and was rebuffed.

“There's a very real threat of the closing or diminishment of consular services. There's even been talk about ramifications of trade and investment business ties of various kinds as well,” he said.

Bilateral trade between India and Canada amounted to US$8.4 billion at the end of the last fiscal year on Mar 31, slightly up from the previous year, according to India's trade ministry.

Michael Kugelman, who is director of the US-based think tank Wilson Center’s South Asia Institute, went as far as to draw parallels with the rhetoric India uses against Pakistan, with whom it has a long-running conflict over cross-border terrorism. 

“India's government is now saying that Canada is sheltering and sponsoring anti-India terrorists,” Kugelman noted. 

“That is the exact accusation that it has levelled against Pakistan for many years.”

What are the fundamental differences at play?

Canada is home to the largest number of Sikhs outside India, with a Sikh population of more than 770,000 - or around 2 per cent of its total population.

The countries’ differing perceptions of activism in demanding a separate Sikh state called Khalistan is at the core of their deep crisis, Kugelman said.

While the Khalistan movement is stronger in the West and does not appear to have momentum at homemwplay888, India’s fear harks back to the 1970s and 1980s, when there was a violent insurgency waged by separatists, he said.

A photograph of late temple president Hardeep Singh Nijjar, back right, is displayed outside the Guru Nanak Sikh Gurdwara Sahib, in Surrey, British Columbia, Tuesday, Oct. 15, 2024. (Darryl Dyck/The Canadian Press via AP)

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