Modi minister accused of driving plot targeting Sikhs in Canada

• Canada and India have expelled top diplomats from each other's countries over the allegations, which Indian officials deny.

Driving the news: The Washington Post first reported that Canadian officials alleged that Shah was behind a campaign against Sikh separatists in Canada.

• Deputy Foreign Affairs Minister David Morrison told members of the Canadian parliamentary national security committee Tuesday that a WaPo journalist called him and asked if Shah was the suspect behind the operation.
• "I confirmed it was that person," Morrison added, without elaborating further.
• Indian officials did not immediately respond to Morrison's comments.

Zoom out: Sikh separatists in India have for decades sought to create a separate homeland for the ethnoreligious group called Khalistan in the Punjab region of India.

• Hardeep Singh Nijjar, a Canadian citizen, was part of this Khalistan movement before his June 2023 shooting death. Indian officials had declared him a wanted terrorist before he was killed.
• In the U.S., the Department of Justice alleged last November that Indian government employee Nikhil Gupta plotted to kill a U.S. attorney in New York who had advocated for a Sikh secession state in India. Gupta, 53, pleaded not guilty in June to plotting to kill the U.S. citizen.

• The DOJ this month announced three counts of murder-for-hire and money laundering charges against former Indian government employee Vikash Yadav, 39, in the case. He remains at large and is listed as "wanted by the FBI."

Flashback: Indian national charged in foiled assassination plot targeting U.S. citizen: DOJ

Editor's note: This article has been updated with further context.