NEW DELHI: India in a reciprocal move over Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's charge that it played a role in the killing of a Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar, expelled the Canadian diplomat. India retaliated strongly by expelling the diplomat.

The Ministry of External Affairs in a statement said that it had summoned the Canadian High Commissioner to India and conveyed the Centre's decision to expel the senior diplomat. This diplomat has to leave India within the next five days. Canadian Foreign Minister Melanie Jolly had alleged that India's top diplomat had a reliable role in Nijjar's murder. He was fired later.

Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau alleged that RAW agents are behind Nijjar's death. Trudeau criticized the killing of a Canadian citizen on the country's soil as unacceptable and a violation of the country's sovereignty. He also said that he directly informed Prime Minister Narendra Modi about this.

However, India rejected Trudeau's allegation, saying the criticism was absurd and that there were ulterior motives behind the allegation. The Ministry of External Affairs said in a statement that the Prime Minister rejected all that immediately. External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar also responded that the allegation of India's involvement in any attack on Canada is absurd.

Nijjar was shot dead by unknown people on June 18. Earlier, investigative agencies had found that Nijjar was the leader of many terrorist activities in India. Soon after this, he was declared a fugitive.