B.C. diaspora expresses fears as India-Canada tensions rise

Some members of the Indian diaspora in B.C. are expressing fears that rising tensions between Canada and India could impact their ability to see their families.

The international rift was renewed this week after the RCMP revealed it is investigating allegations that Indian diplomats and agents were involved in a campaign of violence on Canadian soil.

The policeagency alleges the diplomatscoercively collected information on South Asian Canadians and then passed that information on to criminals, who took various actions, including committing homicides.India denied the allegations, but Canada said it is expelling six Indian diplomats.

The revelations of the RCMP investigation come months after officials tied India's government to the 2023 killing of activist Hardeep Singh Nijjar, the leader of the Guru Nanak Sikh Gurdwara in Surrey, B.C.

Now, some pro-Khalistan Sikh groups in B.C. are callingfor Indian consulatesin Canada to be shut down,saying that members of the Sikh separatist movement have been targeted.

Some in the Indian diasporafear a shutdown could impacttheir future in Canada, though.

"The fact that there was a call-out, publicly, to shut down a consulate, cutting down the entire connection with the country I have deep roots in, impacted me deeply," said Surrey resident Garima Aggarwal in an interview with CBC News on Wednesday.

"I was so mentally stressed I could not sleep last night, because I was thinking about thislike, how do I visit my parents?"

Aggarwal and her husband Vaibhav Tripathi came to Canada in 2018, and say they want to bring their parents over to stay with them.

But with tensions rising, and their parents' visa applications having sat in limbo for over a year, they're afraid they might not get that chance.

"When you put a blanket condition that OK, all ties with India are severed, all Indian consulates are closed ... it has [an] impact on real life people like us," Tripathi said. "Not just diplomats, not just governments, it has [an] impact on citizens."

Tripathi and Aggarwal, who are both Hindu, say they fear that the revelations this week could be driving a wedge between Sikh people and other Indian religious groups something they don't want to happen.

They're asking for the Canadian government to work to restore ties with India, which some analysts have said may be significantly fracturedafter this week.

"Something needs to be done urgently to massage that relationship, bring that relationship back to that healthy relationship that it was years ago, when we decided to make Canada our home," Aggarwal said.

WATCH | How rising tensions could further fracture India-Canada ties:

Claims of India's involvement in violence in Canada will further fracture relations: researcher

4 days ago

Duration 7:27

On Monday, the RCMP revealed it was investigating claims that Indian foreign agents were involved in violence, including homicides, on Canadian soil. Vina Nadjibulla, the vice-president of research and strategy at the Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada, said the diplomatic storm triggered by the allegations could last for a while.

Surrey MP urges calm

Neera Agnihotri, from the Surrey-based Agnihotri Immigration Consulting, said Canada's moves to reduce the amount of temporary foreign workersin the country has already led to delays for those wanting to come to the country from India.

"This is making it harder for those genuine people to either come or go," she said of the rise in tensions between the countries.

"At the end of the day, we Canadians are thinking 'Is it safe for us to go to India?' and the Indians are thinking 'Is it safe for us to go to Canada?'"

Sukh Dhaliwal, the Liberal MP for Surrey-Newton, urged calm, however,sayinghis government has full confidence in the RCMP investigation.

"This is not an issue between two religions,two different communities," he told CBC News. "It is between two countries, and I want to assure those people ... that nothing is going to get affected."

Dhaliwaladded that Foreign Minister MelanieMlanie Jolyhasexpelled six Indian diplomats who were allegedly involved in covert operations, and that thegovernment does not anticipate a need to close Indian consular offices.