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Canada expelled a top Indian diplomat on Monday (Tuesday AEST) as it investigates what Prime Minister Justin Trudeau called credible allegations that India’s government might have had links to the assassination in Canada of a Sikh activist.

Trudeau said in parliament that Canadian intelligence agencies were looking into the allegations after Sikh leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar, a strong supporter of an independent Sikh homeland known as Khalistan, was gunned down on June 18 outside a Sikh cultural centre in Surrey, British Columbia.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said there were “credible allegations” of a link between Indian government agents and the killing Hardeep Singh Nijjar. 

Trudeau told parliament that he brought up the slaying with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the G20 last week. He said he told Modi that any Indian government involvement would be unacceptable and that he asked for co-operation in the investigation.

Canadian Foreign Minister Melanie Joly said the head of Indian intelligence in Canada had been expelled as a consequence.

“If proven true, this would be a great violation of our sovereignty and of the most basic rule of how countries deal with each other,” Joly said. “As a consequence we have expelled a top Indian diplomat.”

The Indian Embassy in Ottawa did not immediately answer phone calls from The Associated Press seeking comment.

Canada has a Sikh population of more than 770,000, or about 2 per cent of its total population.

“Over the past number of weeks Canadian security agencies have been actively pursuing credible allegations of a potential link between agents of the government of India and the killing of a Canadian citizen, Hardeep Singh Nijjar,” Trudeau said.

Trudeau said Canada had declared its deep concerns to the Indian government. “Any involvement of a foreign government in the killing of a Canadian citizen on Canadian soil is an unacceptable violation of our sovereignty.”