India, on Saturday, expressed strong protests to Canada regarding its claims that Union Home Minister Amit Shah was involved in a plan to target Sikh separatists in Canada. 

Randhir Jaiswal, a spokesman for the Ministry of External Affairs, told reporters that India had called the Canadian High Commission's representative on Friday and given him a diplomatic note referring to the Standing Committee on Public Safety and National Security's October 29 meetings in Ottawa. “It was conveyed in the note that the government of India protests in the strongest terms to the absurd and baseless references made to the Union Home Minister of India before the committee by Deputy Minister David Morrison,” Jaiswal said. 

David Morrison, the deputy foreign affairs minister, and Nathalie Drouin, the national security and intelligence adviser to Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, admitted earlier Tuesday that they had leaked information to The Washington Post, which was the first to report that Shah was responsible for the campaign against Khalistan separatists in Canada. However, he has not revealed how Canada got the information about Shah’s alleged involvement in the plot. 

On the other hand, the MEA official added that in order to discredit India and influence other countries, Canadian government officials "deliberately leaked unfounded insinuations to international media." Jaiswal further said, “Such irresponsible actions will have serious consequences for bilateral ties.” India's relations with Canada have deteriorated since Trudeau claimed in September last year that the Indian government was "potentially" involved in Nijjar's murder. India had dismissed the accusations as "motivated" and "absurd." 

Before Tuesday, Canadian officials only mentioned publicly that the plot was linked to the "highest levels of the Indian government."

India lashed out at the Canadian government after consular officials were informed that they have been under audio and video surveillance. Denouncing Canada, the MEA spokesperson termed the action a "flagrant violation" of diplomatic conventions.

Condemning Canada, India lodged a strong protest and criticised that Canada could not hide behind technicalities to justify its harassment and intimidation.

The Ministry of External Affairs Spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said, "Some of our consular officials were recently informed by the Canadian government that they have been and continue to be under audio and video surveillance. Their communications have also been intercepted. We have formally protested to the Canadian government as we deem these actions to be a flagrant violation of relevant diplomatic and consular conventions."

Remarking that India's diplomatic and consular personnel are already functioning in an environment of "extremism and violence", Mr Jaiswal added, "By citing technicalities, the Canadian Government cannot justify the fact that it is indulging in harassment and intimidation... This action of the Canadian government aggravates the situation and is incompatible with established diplomatic norms and practices."