Indian envoy warns of 'big red line,' days after charges laid in Nijjar case

India's envoy to Canada insists relations between the two countries are positive overall, despite what he describes as 'a lot of noise.'

India's envoy to Canada insists relations between the two countries are positive overall, despite what he describes as "a lot of noise." 

During his first public remarks since the RCMP arrested three Indian nationals in the case, High Commissioner Sanjay Kumar Verma seemed to link the case to domestic crime.

But he warned that Sikh groups in Canada who call for the separation of their homeland from India are crossing "a big red line" that New Delhi sees as a matter of national security. 

"Indians will decide the fate of India, not the foreigners," Verma told the Montreal Council on Foreign Relations.

Earlier on Tuesday, Foreign Minister Mélanie Joly stood by allegations that the Indian government was complicit in the slaying of a Sikh Canadian last year.

Hardeep Singh Nijjar had long advocated for the creation of a Sikh country called Khalistan. 

He was shot dead last June outside his temple in Surrey, B.C.