NEW DELHI — Relations between India and Canada are at an all-time low as the two countries mutually expelled their top diplomats over an ongoing dispute over the killing of a Sikh activist in Canada.

Canada said it had identified India’s top diplomat in the country as a person of interest in an assassination plot and expelled him and five other diplomats on Monday. India has rejected the accusations as absurd, and its foreign ministry said it was expelling Canada’s acting high commissioner and five other diplomats in response.

It is the latest in an escalating dispute following the June 2023 killing of Sikh activist Hardeep Singh Nijjar.

What is the dispute about?

Nijjar was fatally shot in his van in June 2023 after leaving the Sikh temple he led in the city of Surrey, British Columbia. A Canadian citizen of Indian origin, he owned a plumbing business and was a leader in a movement to create an independent Sikh homeland, which is banned in India.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said in September 2023 that there were credible allegations that the Indian government had links to the murder. India denied the allegations at the time, but said Nijjar was involved in “terrorism.”

How did the relationship get there?

Canada expelled an Indian diplomat following the conflict last year, and in response, India expelled a Canadian diplomat and froze consular services for Canadians for nearly two months.

Tensions flared again in May, when Canadian police said they had arrested three Indian nationals accused of involvement in Nijjar’s murder and were “investigating whether there were links to the Indian government.” India rejected the allegations, saying Canada had a “political compulsion” to blame India.

What changed on Monday?

Today, Canada says India’s top diplomat in the country is a person of interest in the killing and that police have uncovered evidence of a growing campaign against Canadian citizens by agents of the Indian government.

The Royal Canadian Mounted Police said it found evidence of Indian agents’ involvement “in serious criminal activity in Canada,” including links “to homicides and acts of violence” and interference in democratic processes of Canada, among others.

Meanwhile, Canadian Foreign Minister Mélanie Joly linked Indian officials to Nijjar’s assassination and said Canada had gathered “sufficient, clear and concrete evidence that identified six individuals as persons of interest in the Nijjar affair.

She said India had been asked to lift diplomatic immunity and cooperate with the investigation, but had refused.

In a statement released Monday, India’s foreign ministry said the Canadian government “has not shared any evidence” with the Indian government, “despite numerous requests from us.” The ministry also called the accusations a “deliberate strategy to defame India for political purposes.”

Who was Nijjar?

Nijjar was a local leader in what remains of a once-strong movement to create an independent Sikh homeland known as Khalistan. The Khalistan movement is banned in India, but benefits from the support of the Sikh diaspora, particularly in Canada.

India designated Nijjar as a terrorist in 2020 and, at the time of his death, was seeking his arrest for his alleged involvement in an attack on a Hindu priest in India.

New Delhi’s concerns over Sikh separatist groups in Canada have long strained relations, but the two countries have maintained strong defense and trade ties and share strategic concerns about China’s global ambitions. China. However, India is increasingly accusing Canada of giving free rein to Sikh separatists.

Sikhs make up nearly 2% of Canada’s population and more than a dozen are members of the country’s Parliament.