TORONTO — Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Wednesday that Canada’s national police went public with their allegations against Indian diplomats this week because they had to disrupt violence in Canada, including drive-by shootings, extortion and even murders.

The Royal Canadian Police said Monday they have identified India’s top diplomat in the country and five other diplomats as persons of interest in the June 2023 murder of Sikh activist Hardeep Singh Nijjar. The RCMP also said it had uncovered evidence of an intensifying campaign against Canadians by agents of the Indian government.

“We are not seeking to provoke or create conflict with India,” Trudeau said. “The Indian government made a horrible mistake in thinking it could interfere as aggressively as it did in Canada’s security and sovereignty. We must respond to ensure the safety of Canadians.

Niijar’s assassination has strained bilateral relations between India and Canada for over a year and came to a head this week as both countries expelled their top diplomats over the allegations and other alleged crimes in Canada.

Trudeau said he had tried not to “blow up” relations with India and that Canadian officials had provided evidence privately with their Indian counterparts that he said had not cooperated.

“The RCMP’s decision to move forward with this announcement was entirely rooted in public safety and with the aim of disrupting the chain of activities that resulted in shootings, home invasions, violent extortions and even murders in Canada and across Canada,” Trudeau said. said Wednesday while testifying before the Commission on Foreign Interference in Ottawa.

Trudeau said Indian diplomats passed information about Canadians to the highest levels of the Indian government, which was then shared with organized crime, leading to violence against Canadians.

“The RCMP were convinced that this project needed to be disrupted,” he said.

RCMP Commissioner Mike Duheme said Monday that police have evidence linking Indian government agents to other homicides and acts of violence in Canada. He declined to provide details, citing ongoing investigations, but he said there had been more than a dozen credible and imminent threats that led police to warn members of the South Asian community, notably the pro-Khalistan, or Sikh independence, movement.

Trudeau said India had violated Canada’s sovereignty. India has rejected the accusations as absurd.

India has repeatedly criticized the Trudeau government for being lenient towards supporters of the Khalistan movement who live in Canada. The Khalistan movement is banned in India but benefits from the support of the Sikh diaspora, particularly in Canada.

Nijjar, 45, was fatally shot in his pickup truck after leaving the Sikh temple he led in Surrey, British Columbia. A Canadian citizen of Indian origin, he owned a plumbing business and was a leader in what remains of a once-strong movement to create an independent Sikh homeland.

Four Indian nationals living in Canada have been charged with Niijar’s murder and are awaiting trial.

Trudeau noted that his government could have made these allegations public when Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi hosted the G20 summit in September 2023, but chose not to. He met Modi and then expressed his concerns privately.

“It was a great moment for India to welcome all the world leaders to New Delhi for a very important summit and we had the opportunity to make it a very uncomfortable summit for India if we made these public allegations in advance,” Trudeau said: “We have chosen to continue to work with India behind the scenes to try to get India to cooperate with us. »

Trudeau said that when he returned home, India’s response, including through the media, was to attack Canada.

Trudeau then went public in Parliament with the allegation that the Indian government may have been involved in Niijar’s murder. He said media outlets were set to publish stories detailing allegations that India may be involved in the murder of a Canadian Sikh on Canadian soil. He said he made it public out of concern for public safety.

Canada’s foreign minister said Monday that violence in Canada has worsened since then.

The British government said India should cooperate with the Canadian investigation into accusations that its government was involved in a growing number of violent crimes in Canada. In a statement, Britain’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Development said India’s cooperation with the Canadian legal process “is the right next step.”

A U.S. State Department spokesperson told a news conference Tuesday that the United States has long asked India to cooperate with Canadian authorities.