Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau spoke with his United Kingdom counterpart Keir Starmer, about the targeted campaign against Canadian citizens by agents linked to the Government of India, said the official release.

Also Read: Trudeau Accuses Indian Diplomats of Links to Criminal Violence

As per the release, “The leaders discussed the need to ensure the safety and security of their citizens and the importance of upholding and respecting the rule of law. Prime Minister Trudeau underscored Canada’s continued interest in co-operation with India to address this serious matter.”

“Prime Minister Trudeau and Prime Minister Starmer agreed to remain in close and regular contact,” it added.

Earlier on Monday, India expelled six Canadian diplomats and announced the withdrawal of its high commissioner and other targeted officials from Canada, following Ottawa’s allegations connecting the Indian envoy to the investigation into the killing of Sikh extremist Hardeep Singh Nijjar. This move represents a significant deterioration in the already strained relations between the two countries. India’s decision to recall High Commissioner Sanjay Verma and other diplomats came after the Canadian Charge d’Affaires, Stewart Wheelers, was summoned to the Ministry of External Affairs, where he was told that the unfounded targeting of Indian officials was “completely unacceptable.”

Also Read: What led to India-Canada diplomatic row? A quick recap

In a late evening statement, the MEA said India has asked six Canadian diplomats, including Charge d’Affaires Wheelers and Deputy High Commissioner Patrick Hebert, to leave India by or before 11:59 pm on October 19.

The other diplomats expelled are Marie Catherine Joly, Ian Ross David Trites, Adam James Chuipka and Paula Orjuela (all first secretaries).

In its reaction to Canada’s charges against Verma, New Delhi described them as “concocted” and “preposterous imputations” and ascribed the allegations to the “political agenda of the Trudeau government that is centred around vote bank politics”.

In its statement, the MEA said India received a “diplomatic communication from Canada yesterday suggesting that the Indian High Commissioner and other diplomats are ‘persons of interest’ in a matter related to an investigation in that country”.

Canadian Charge d’Affaires (CDA) Wheelers was summoned by MEA’s Secretary (East) Jaideep Mazumdar and it was underlined to him that in an atmosphere of extremism and violence, the Trudeau government’s actions “endangered” the safety of Indian diplomats and other officials.

“We have no faith in the current Canadian government’s commitment to ensure their security. Therefore, the government of India has decided to withdraw the high commissioner and other targeted diplomats and officials,” the MEA said.

Also Read: ‘PM Trudeau’s govt has provided space to extremists, terrorists’: India slams Canada’s move targeting Indian diplomats

“It was also conveyed that India reserves the right to take further steps in response to the Trudeau government’s support for extremism, violence and separatism against India,” it said.

It is learnt that Verma and other officials will return from Canada in the next few days.

The relations between India and Canada came under severe strain following Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s allegations in September last year of a “potential” involvement of Indian agents in the killing of Nijjar.

He was gunned down in Surrey, British Columbia, in June last year. New Delhi had rejected Trudeau’s charges as “absurd”.

The Canadian charge d’affaires told reporters that his government has done what India has long been asking for.

“Canada has provided credible and irrefutable evidence of ties between agents of the Government of India and murderer of a Canadian citizen on Canadian soil. Now it is time for India to live up to what it said it would do and look into those allegations,” he said.

The MEA said High Commissioner Verma is India’s senior most serving diplomat with a distinguished career spanning 36 years.

“He has been Ambassador in Japan and Sudan, while also serving in Italy, Turkiye, Vietnam and China. The aspersions cast on him by the Government of Canada are ludicrous and deserve to be treated with contempt,” it said.

“The government of India has taken cognizance of the activities of the Canadian High Commission in India that serve the political agenda of the current regime,” it said.

Last week, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Trudeau had a “brief exchange” on the sidelines of the East Asia summit in Laos.