Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau (left) and Indian prime minister Narendra Modi (right) meeting at the 2023 New Delhi G-20 Summit (Sean Kilpatrick / Canadian Press)
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In June of 2023, Sikh activist Hardeep Singh Nijar was assassinated on Canadian soil. Over a year later, his death has sparked diplomatic turmoil between Canada and India.
Historically, the two nations have maintained relatively stable relations built on bilateral trade agreements (valued up to a net import and export value of 10.5 billion USD) and shared ethnic communities. Canada is home to about 1.6 million people of Indian descent, a community that grew significantly due to an immigration spike that resulted from the Trump administration’s restrictive policies. Those who sought refuge helped foster cultural ties and economic interdependence between Canada and India. However, the otherwise stable mutual respect the two previously held for each other has steadily declined since Nijar’s assassination, which had been fueled by religious, social, and cultural tensions that have deep historical ties.
Nijar was a known Sikh activist and leader of the Khalistan movement, a long-standing effort dating back to the 18th century that is dedicated to the establishment of a homeland for Sikhs in the Punjab region of India. Sikhs, who make up about two percent of the Indian population, have faced years of marginalization. Their religious origins—rooted in conflicts with Afghanistan—resulted in support for Sikh representation in parliament and a sovereign state in Punjab. Because of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi’s disregard for the Sikh population, however, the demands of the Khalistan movement were largely denied.
The Sikh movement notably gained traction in the 1970s and 80s. In the following years, this resulted in ongoing conflict between Hindus and Sikhs. These disputes hit their climax with the Golden Temple raid of 1984, which was authorized by Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. Also known as Operation Blue Star, the attack targeted Sikh militants and killed the now-posthumous figurehead Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale to occupy the sacred Golden Temple of Punjab.
In retaliation for Operation Blue Star, members of the Sikh community assassinated Indira Gandhi. Anti-Sikh rhetoric and minority status surrounding the Sikh population meant that the following years would be met with social tensions between the Sikh and Hindu populations, accompanied by extreme violence targeting Sikh homes and businesses.
Fast forward to present-day India, and the remaining insecurity surrounding the Sikh population, interfaith communal violence, and lack of Sikh representation in Parliament have all deepened ongoing cultural tension. Seeking solace from the unstable social context of India led many Sikhs to immigrate to Canada from the early 1990s up to the present day.
The assassination of Najir takes on a new level of significance for the Sikh population of Canada, their home country, India, and the political elite of Canada. Upon arriving in Canada during the turn of the 21st century, Sikhism and Canadian culture began to converge for the new wave of immigrants, suggesting a process of cultural assimilation. Yet prejudice remains widespread in Canada, with only 30% of Canadians displaying a favorable attitude toward Sikhs and 26% seeing them as agents of violence. To combat these challenges, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau allocated funds in the 2024 Canadian budget, shortly after Nijar’s death, to preserving and promoting Sikh heritage.
However, India has since claimed that Canada is too relaxed with their stance on Sikhism. To the Indian government, the result of Canada’s tolerant position is a national threat to the Indian identity, as Nijar pioneered rhetoric for a northern solution to hostility toward Sikhs in India, similar to that of the Khalistan movement. With support for Sikhism in Canada protested by India, a dilemma arises for Trudeau’s approach to handling Nijar’s assassination on a diplomatic level: make concessions to maintain stable relations with India, or support the growing Sikh population in Canada.
Despite the assassination occurring nearly a year ago, talk of the state of diplomatic relations between the two has resurfaced, as Trudeau has made his stance clear with the recent expulsion of six Indian diplomats. India retaliated by also expelling Canadian diplomats after allegations that the assassination was an orchestrated attempt by the Indian government to squander the growing Khalistan movement. The future direction of this issue is leaning toward cyber attacks on India’s end, suggesting the dispute will continue to escalate. Both countries will have to assess their value as trading partners, and their respective leaders will have to consider their political survival in their decision-making. Specifically, Trudeau will have to be careful in protecting Canadian Sikhs within a population that boasts a starkly low approval rating of Sikh presence. Despite his survival in the 2025 Canadian election being temporarily secured, public opinion has begun to sway against Trudeau after his handling of relations with India. Who Trudeau’s foreign policy will support and how much further this feud will escalate are all open-ended concerns that seem to lack a definite answer during this period of ideological, economic, and social conflict.
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This article was edited by Natasha Tretter and Katie Webb.
