India lists a CBSA employee as fugitive terrorist amid ongoing diplomatic rift with Canada over Nijjar's killing

Sandeep Singh Sidhu, an official from the Canadian Border Services Agency (CBSA), has reportedly been included on New Delhi's list of terrorists sought for deportation.

The development comes amid a significant diplomatic conflict between India and Canada related to the death of Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar last year.

Sidhu, a CBSA employee and member of the banned International Sikh Youth Federation (ISYF), is accused of encouraging terrorist activity in Punjab.

Sidhu was purportedly involved in the 2020 assassination of Balwinder Singh Sandhu and had connections to Lakhbir Singh Rode, a terrorist from Khalistan living in Pakistan, as well as other ISI agents.

Shaurya Chakra recipient Balwinder Singh Sandhu gained notoriety for his resistance work against Khalistani terrorists during the insurgency in Punjab and for his opposition to Khalistan referendums spearheaded by Sikhs for Justice (SFJ) in the US and Canada.

According to the National Investigation Agency (NIA), Sandhu's assassination was planned by Khalistani agents residing in Canada, such as Sunny Toronto and terrorist Lakhbir Singh Rode, who was given shelter in Pakistan.

Whether "Sunny Toronto" is a fictitious name for Sandeep Singh Sidhu is still unknown.

Earlier this week, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau made public claims that Indian officials were targeting Sikh separatists in Canada by providing intelligence about them to their government.

They further claimed that high-ranking Indian authorities were then providing Indian organized criminal groups with this information, and the groups were using it to target the Canadian-born campaigners.

In response, India's Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) has dismissed Canada's acting high commissioner and five other diplomats. India said that the Canadian claims were baseless.

The report was released a few days after Randhir Jaiswal, the spokesperson for the MEA, highlighted at a press conference that at least 26 Indian extradition requests that were submitted over the previous ten or more years were still pending with Canadian authorities.

"There are 26 extradition requests pending with the Canadian side; these are over the last decade or more; along with that, there are several provisional arrest requests, which are also pending with the Canadian side, of certain criminals," said Jaiswal.

"We had shared security-related information with the Canadian government regarding gang members, including those of the Lawrence Bishnoi gang, and requested them to arrest them (criminals). So far, no action has been taken by the Canadian side on our request,” he added.

Jaiswal continued, “We find it really strange that now people who we wanted to be deported or action to be taken against... we are being told that the RCMP (Royal Canadian Mounted Police) is blaming the Indian side for crimes committed by these people in Canada.”