一名加拿大籍的锡克教领袖今年6月在温哥华附近被暗杀。这起事件正演变为加拿大和印度之间一场全面的外交危机。

加拿大总理特鲁多上星期一在国会上说，有理由相信，印度莫迪政府的特工可能与哈迪普·辛格·尼贾尔被暗杀有关。

尼贾尔原籍印度。他在1997年流亡到加拿大，后来获得加拿大国籍。他在加拿大推动锡克独立运动，目标是在印度旁遮普邦建立独立的卡利斯坦国。印度政府则指责尼贾尔是恐怖分子，策划暴力袭击，领导恐怖组织。

特鲁多指控印度特工涉嫌暗杀尼贾尔是对加拿大主权的侵犯。两个国家接着相互驱逐大使，印度还暂停办理加拿大公民的签证业务。

这场外交冲突会如何收场？印度如今是美国遏制中国崛起的重要帮手，加拿大又是美国最老的盟友之一。在新朋友和老朋友之间，美国会如何选择？

这期的早报播客《东谈西论》，听主持人韩咏红和印度弗莱明大学社会科学系副教授刘奇峰详细解析。

延伸阅读：

• 【早知】锡克教分离运动如何影响印度与加拿大关系？
• 加拿大印度外交风波 美国左右为难

The assassination of a Sikh separatist on Canadian soil has escalated into a diplomatic crisis between Canada and India.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said last week that Ottawa had credible allegations linking Indian government agents to the murder of Hardeep Singh Nijjar in June. 

Born in India, Nijjar moved to Canada in 1997 and subsequently obtained Canadian citizenship. He advocated for the creation of Khalistan, an independent homeland for Sikhs in India’s Punjab state. The Indian government had labelled him as a terrorist, and accused him of planning violent attacks and leading a terrorist organisation. Nijjar was shot dead outside a temple in a Vancouver suburb.

Trudeau's accusation prompted an angry reaction from India. Both countries expelled each other's ambassadors, and India suspended visa processing for Canadian citizens, particularly from the Sikh and Indo-Canadian communities.

How will this diplomatic conflict be resolved? Both countries are important allies of the US. How will the US respond?

In this episode of Global Heartbeat podcast, Associate Professor of international politics at India’s FLAME University, Roger Chi-feng Liu, shares his insights with host Han Yong Hong.

Hosted by Lianhe Zaobao’s Associate Editor, Han Yong Hong, Global Heartbeat is a Mandarin weekly news and current affairs podcast that is updated every Tuesday, 7.00 PM SGT. It is available on zaobao.sg, Apple Podcast, Google Podcasts, Spotify and other podcast platforms.

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