India rejects 'absurd' Canada allegations over slaying

India yesterday rejected "absurd" allegations that its agents were behind the killing of a Sikh leader in Canada after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's accusation sent diplomatic relations to a new low.

Ottawa also expelled a diplomat it described as the head of India's foreign intelligence service in Canada, prompting a tit-for-tat order from New Delhi for a Canadian diplomat to leave.

Trudeau said that "credible allegations" linked Indian agents to the June slaying of Hardeep Singh Nijjar, who was accused by New Delhi of carrying out terrorist attacks in India - a charge he denied before his death.

New Delhi insisted it had nothing to do with the killing, adding that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had "completely rejected" the accusation when earlier raised privately by Trudeau.

"Allegations of the government of India's involvement in any act of violence in Canada are absurd," the foreign ministry said.

Nijjar, was gunned down on June 18 in Surrey, a suburb of Vancouver that is home to a large Sikh community.

Nijjar was part of a movement that advocated for an independent Sikh state in India and Pakistan.

Trudeau made the allegations public before an emergency session of parliament, calling on the Indian government to cooperate on the matter. "The involvement of any foreign government in the murder of a Canadian citizen on Canadian soil is an unacceptable violation of our sovereignty," he said.

Foreign Minister Melanie Joly then announced the expulsion of the local head of the Research and Analysis Wing, India's foreign intelligence agency.

India responded by summoning Canada's High Commissioner to the foreign ministry before announcing a reciprocal expulsion of an unnamed Canadian diplomat.

Trudeau was in New Delhi last week for the G20 summit and met privately with Modi.