Twice since July 2022, Moninder Singh, spokesperson for a Sikh advocacy group in Canada's British Columbia province, has had police come to his door in the Vancouver suburb of Surrey.

India’s government is denying that it works with mobsters to target Sikh separatists in Canada as alleged publicly this week by Canadian officials in an escalating diplomatic dispute.

As India doubles down on rejecting the claim it is behind widespread crimes in Canada, its foreign ministry is accusing Ottawa of trying to smear New Delhi.

He said that there were 26 Indian extradition requests pending with Canada over the last decade or more, which include members of the Lawrence Bishnoi gang, and others. The Royal Canadian Mounted Police had accused Indian government agents of being linked to the Lawrence Bishnoi gang in the murder of Hardeep Singh Nijjar near Vancouver.