Why India and Canada are in an escalating rift, with each expelling diplomats

Ottawa’s decision Monday to expel India’s top envoy and five other diplomats is just the latest development in tensions that have simmered for months between the two countries.

Here’s a look at what’s driving the chill between Canada and India.

Why is India mad at Canada?

India is a staunch opponent to the Khalistan separatist movement, in which some Sikhs advocate for an independent state called Khalistan to be carved out of Indian territory.

India says the prospect is unconstitutional and threatens the country’s national security. Ottawa has long stressed that it upholds India’s territorial integrity but won’t crack down on freedom of expression in Canada.

Khalistan supporters in Canada occasionally organize rallies and what they call referendum, which get little mainstream media attention in Canada but are the subject of emotive news reports in India. Organizers say India has persecuted them through decades, a claim New Delhi rejects.

Some Sikh temples have been found to be openly venerating people connected with acts of violence like the 1985 bombing of an Air India flight, which is the deadliest terrorist attack in Canadian history.

Did India kill a Canadian?

In September 2023, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced that Canadian intelligence services are investigating “credible” information about “a potential link” between India’s government and the killing of Sikh leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar in British Columbia.

New Delhi initially outright denied any involvement, before shifting to saying that extrajudicial killings are not state policy.

Meanwhile, American authorities last November unsealed an indictment alleging a murder-for-hire plot by an Indian national. The court file alleges an Indian government employee directed the attempted assassination in the United States, and spoke about others, including Nijjar’s killing in Canada.

This past May, police in Edmonton arrested three Indian nationals and charged them with first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit murder in Nijjar’s death.

India maintains that Canada has never shared evidence of the country’s involvement in the homicide, though Trudeau said Monday that Canadian authorities shared this information with their Indian peers over the weekend.

Since last autumn, India has temporarily suspended visa services for Canadians. It also withdrew diplomatic immunity for most of Canada’s envoys, which Ottawa said forced it to bring home most of its diplomats.

Is India important?

In November 2022, Canada declared India “a critical partner” in its Indo-Pacific strategy, calling for a trade agreement, more work exchanges and partnerships in renewal energy.

Canada is among the countries that have spent years trying to court New Delhi amid growing concerns about China. Ottawa has said that India is key to promoting democracy and pluralism worldwide.

India relies on Canada for large imports of lentils and potash, and is a popular destination for students looking to study abroad in both advanced research degrees and vocational colleges.

Until September 2023, Canada and India had been in numerous rounds of high-level negotiations for a trade deal restricted to key industries, years after both countries abandoned an attempt at a comprehensive deal. Canada paused the latest negotiations shortly before making public its concerns about the Nijjar case.

Is this a political spat?

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government has argued that Trudeau hasn’t taken the issue of Khalistan separatism seriously.

In 2018, Trudeau’s visit to India caused controversy when it emerged that his delegation had invited Jaspal Atwal — a B.C. Sikh convicted of attempting to assassinate an Indian cabinet minister in 1986 — to two events with Trudeau.

In a background briefing arranged by the Prime Minister’s Office, a government official told journalists that Atwal’s presence had been arranged by factions within the Indian government who wanted to sabotage Trudeau’s visit due to the Khalistan issue.

A year ago, Indian Foreign Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar suggested the latest rift comes down to issues his government has with Canada’s Liberals.

“The problems we have are with a certain segment of Canadian politics, and the policies which flow from that,” he said.

What happened on Monday?

On Monday, the RCMP warned the public about a rash of crimes including murder, extortion and coercion linked to Indian government agents.

The RCMP and other Canadian officials confronted India earlier this past weekend, and when New Delhi refused to co-operate, Ottawa ordered six Indian diplomats to leave Canada. India has similarly expelled six Canadian diplomats.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 14, 2024.

TORONTO – After 10 games staged in Europe and the U.S., Canada coach Jesse Marsch is getting his first real taste of what lies ahead 20 months from now when the 2026 World Cup kicks off.

Marsch and the 38th-ranked Canadian men host No. 37 Panama in an international friendly Tuesday at Toronto’s BMO Field, which will stage the first of 13 World Cup games in Canada on June 12, 2026.

Canada Soccer said more than 22,200 tickets had been sold for the Panama game as of Monday morning.

The Canadians got a feel for the home support last week during their camp in Montreal, where they held an open practice and sent players out to mingle with various local youth clubs.

“I feel like sometimes when you’re in the thick of it, you may forget about the impact you’re making on people around Canada,” said defender Derek Cornelius, who plays his club football in France for Marseille.

He is already wondering about the reception Canada could get if it goes on a run in 2026, as it did at this summer’s Copa America where it made it to the third-place game before losing to No. 11 Uruguay in a penalty shootout.

“With the entire world watching, how special that would,” said Cornelius. “It’s just more exciting, but also more motivating to really make sure that we do the work now that’s going to make us successful for the World Cup that’s going to be coming in less than two years.”

The Canadian men are 2-3-5 under Marsch, with one of those ties turning into the shootout loss to Uruguay and another a shootout win over No. 40 Venezuela, also at Copa America.

“We’re only scratching the surface, for me, in terms of how good I believe they can become,” said Marsch. “And obviously they’ve accelerated the learning curve with how they’ve performed and how they’ve adapted.”

The American coach says he will continue to push the squad.

“Because my vision is not to win a game, not to get out of the group, but to be winners at the World Cup,” he said. “Of course, can we raise the trophy? It’s not time to speak about that yet. But we want to think on home soil that against any opponent, that we can be the aggressor, that we can be the better team and that we can find ways to win on the biggest stage.”

The expanded 2026 World Cup, which is being co-hosted by the U.S. and Mexico, will feature 48 teams. Canada and Mexico will each host 13 games with the U.S. staging the remaining 78.

Vancouver’s B.C. Place Stadium will host seven games, with six at BMO Field.

Marsch says he expects his team will play 20 to 30 games in the lead-up to the tournament. And with an automatic tournament berth as co-host, that means organizing a lot of friendlies to fill out the schedule outside CONCACAF Gold Cup and Nations League play.

With the international schedule congested already, that is not easy — as shown by Canada Soccer’s inability to find a second opponent for this international window. Instead, the Canadian men played a closed-door game against a CF Montreal side, winning 5-0.

“There are major challenges with scheduling and getting the right kind of opponents,” said Marsch. “We’ve been trying to work ahead of time with European nations, with African nations, with Asian nations, South American nations, on what their potential schedules could look like.

“It’s complicated and we can’t necessarily make anything concrete right now,” he added. “But we’re really trying to build out a robust schedule that gives our players and our team the opportunity to play against the best opponents possible in the preparation for ’26.”

The Canadian men have not played at home since a 3-2 loss to Jamaica on Nov. 21, 2023, in the return leg of the Nations League quarterfinal, before an announced crowd of 17,588 at BMO Field. That defeat snapped a record 17-game home undefeated run (15-0-2) for Canada — since a 3-0 loss to Mexico in March 2016 in a World Cup qualifier at Vancouver — and a 22-game unbeaten run at BMO Field (15-0-7), dating back to a 2-0 loss to Peru in September 2010.

Tuesday’s Panama friendly is a warm-up for 2024-25 CONCACAF Nations League quarterfinal play, with Canada hosting the second leg of the tie scheduled for Nov. 19 at BMO Field.

Canada, which trained Monday at Toronto FC’s practice facility, is coming off two good showings in September, a scoreless draw with No. 17 Mexico and 2-0 win over the 18th-ranked U.S.

Panama lost 2-0 to the U.S. on Saturday in Austin, Texas, in Mauricio Pochettino’s debut as American coach.

Canada is 5-2-6 all-time against Panama and won 2-0 the last time they met in last year’s Nations League semifinal in Las Vegas, in former captain Atiba Hutchinson’s 104th and final national team appearance.

Two players have left the Canada camp already, with defender Luc de Fougerolles returning to England’s Fulham and goalkeeper Jonathan Sirois rejoining CF Montreal.

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This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 14, 2024

SANTA CLARA, Calif. (AP) — San Francisco 49ers rookie receiver Ricky Pearsall returned to the field for practice on Monday for the first time since he was shot in the chest during an attempted robbery nine days before the season opener.

The 49ers opened a window for Pearsall to begin practicing with the team while he remains on the non-football injury list. The team has three weeks to decide when to activate him, and coach Kyle Shanahan said last week there is no timeline for when Pearsall will be ready to play in games.

“I saw him warming up and I started smiling because I know how big of a factor he can be for the team,” rookie guard Dominick Puni said. “But more importantly for his health and everything, it was awesome to see him out there after going what he went through.”

Just the presence of Pearsall was a lift for the 49ers after what transpired on Aug. 31. Pearsall was shot in the chest during a robbery attempt in San Francisco’s Union Square area and was hospitalized overnight. He avoided damage to any organs and nerves and was back working out at the team facility the following week.

Pearsall could be seen dancing around the field during the brief portion of practice that was open to the media and broke down the team huddle before and after the session.

Fellow rookie receiver Jacob Cowing said he noticed from the first time he met Pearsall in January while preparing for the combine that he had the “it factor” and that only has been reinforced these last few months.

“All the adversity that has kind of been thrown at him in the past few months, just for him to overcome everything against him, to fight and to grind and to get back into shape,” Cowing said. “It’s a great feeling for everyone to see him put the helmet back on, put that the jersey back on, and then to go out there and be part of that team and go out there and have some fun.”

Pearsall, who was drafted in the first round in April, missed the majority of training camp practices with injuries to his hamstring and shoulder but was on track to be ready for the opener before the shooting.

He began his college career at Arizona State and transferred to Florida for his final two seasons. He had 65 catches for 965 yards and four touchdowns last season for the Gators and finished his college career with 159 catches for 2,420 yards and 14 TDs.

NOTES: RB Jordan Mason wore a blue noncontact jersey after spraining the AC joint in his left shoulder last Thursday night in a game at Seattle. The 49ers are hopeful he can play this week when San Francisco hosts Kansas City in a Super Bowl rematch. … S Malik Mustapha (ankle) and DT Jordan Elliott (knee) were working on the side. … CB Charvarius Ward (knee), LB Fred Warner (ankle), TE George Kittle (ribs) and LB Demetrius Flannigan-Fowles (calf) all were in uniform to start practice.

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