Canada has expelled a ‘top’ Indian diplomat. Who is Pavan Kumar Rai?

Canada expelled a “top Indian diplomat” Monday after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau dropped a major allegation that agents of the Indian government were tied to the June murder of Hardeep Singh Nijjar in British Columbia.

The diplomat in question is Pavan Kumar Rai, according to the office of Foreign Affairs Minister Melanie Joly. He was posted to the Indian High Commission in Ottawa, and Joly had told reporters in Ottawa on Monday that the expulsion was “as a consequence” of the intelligence.

What is Indian media saying?


Singh blasts Modi government over allegations India agents killed B.C. Sikh leader


Nijjar was a vocal proponent for the creation of Khalistan, a separate Sikh homeland in the Indian subcontinent.

India considers the Khalistan movement an affront to it’s sovereignty.

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Nijjar had an arrest warrant in India over terrorism charges, which he had denied prior to his death. He was killed in the parking lot of his gurdwara in Surrey, B.C. on June 18.

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