A Khalistani organisation, Sikhs for Justice (SFJ), in collaboration with the Guru Nanak Sikh Gurdwara Temple, has set up an “Embassy of the Republic of Khalistan” in Surrey, Canada.
The embassy, marked by a board reading “Republic of Khalistan,” has been opened inside a building on the gurdwara premises, which also functions as a community centre, reported CNN-News18.
Local residents told CNN-News18 that the building was funded by the Government of British Columbia, with the provincial government recently allocating $150,000 to install an elevator in the facility.
The gurdwara was once headed by Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar, whose killing in 2023 plunged India-Canada ties into crisis. Nijjar was gunned down in the parking lot of the same gurdwara.
The symbolic “embassy” supports Nijjar and comes as SFJ prepares for a “Khalistan referendum,” according to India Today. Indian security agencies are closely monitoring the situation.
The timing threatens to undermine recent attempts to reset relations between New Delhi and Ottawa, including the first in-person meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney during the G7 summit earlier this year.
Both sides had signalled an intent to move beyond the diplomatic rupture caused by Nijjar’s death and unproven allegations by former Canadian PM Justin Trudeau of Indian government involvement — allegations New Delhi has denied.
India has for decades raised concerns over Khalistani extremists in Canada, accusing Ottawa of failing to act against them despite their role in promoting, funding, and planning violence targeting India.
Since the mid-1980s, Canada-based Khalistani extremists (CBKEs) have been linked to the Politically Motivated Violent Extremism (PMVE) threat, which refers to using violence to alter political systems or structures. The 1985 Air India bombing, which killed 329 people, remains a grim reminder of this danger.
Canada’s own intelligence agency has now echoed India’s warnings.
In June, the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) for the first time acknowledged: “Khalistani extremists continue to use Canada as a base for the promotion, fundraising or planning of violence primarily in India.”
The CSIS annual report noted that CBKEs remain a “long-standing source” of PMVE in Canada, engaging in financing, facilitating, and plotting violence abroad. While no CBKE-linked attacks were reported in 2024, it was the first time Canadian authorities officially used the term “extremism” in connection with the Khalistan movement.
The report also came amid an ongoing investigation into Nijjar’s killing. Four individuals were arrested in May 2024 and charged with first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit murder.