The Modi government has issued its sharpest statement yet over what it calls “anti-India activities” originating from Canada, expressing its concern and disappointment over Ottawa’s apparent lack of action on the matter.
It comes after thousands of Canadian Sikhs took part in an unofficial voting exercise earlier this week dubbed the “Khalistan referendum”, expressing their support for a separate Sikh nation-state to split away from New Delhi in northern India.
While the Canadian authorities have defended this as an exercise in freedom of speech, the Indian foreign ministry has accused Canada of allowing extremists to carry out “deeply objectionable” and “politically-motivated exercises” that represent a threat to the integrity of India.
