00:00 India expelled a Canadian diplomat on Tuesday.
00:06 In a tit-for-tat move after Canada discarded an Indian diplomat identified as an intelligence
00:11 officer, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau alleged that the Indian government may have
00:15 been behind the shooting of Hardeep Singh Nijjad, who was a Sikh separatist leader in
00:20 British Columbia.
00:22 Reports have revealed that the Indian diplomat who was expelled by the Canadian government
00:26 is a 1997 batch Punjab-catered IPS officer who was at the forefront in the fight against
00:32 drugs in the state.
00:33 The head of the Indian intelligence in Canada has been expelled as a consequence of the
00:37 spat over the alleged link between the Indian government and Nijjad's assassination.
00:41 The top Indian diplomat has since then been identified as Pawan Kumar Rai, purportedly
00:45 the Canadian station chief of India's intelligence agency Research and Analysis Wing or RAW.
00:51 However, India's statement did not refer to Rai's expulsion.
00:54 Apparently, Rai's name was leaked to the Canadian media by the country's foreign ministry
00:59 in a breach of protocol that typically does not identify by name the station chief of
01:03 spy agencies, particularly among friendly nations.
01:07 As per reports, Rai was posted to Ottawa as Minister of Eco-coordination, Community Affairs
01:12 in the Indian High Commission in 2018.
01:15 According to The Indian Express, Rai is a senior Indian Police Service or IPS officer
01:20 belonging to the 1997 Punjab-cater and had previously played a key role in combating
01:25 drug-related issues in the state of Punjab before opting for a central deputation in
01:29 2010.
01:30 Reports said that he had held positions such as the senior superintendent of police or
01:34 SSP in Jalandhar and Amritsar during the late 2000s.
01:38 On January 31, he was promoted to the rank of Additional Director General of Police
01:42 or ADGP by the Punjab government along with seven other IPS officers.
01:47 Like mentioned before, reports said that Rai was station chief of India's intelligence
01:51 agency RAW in Canada.
01:53 The Indian Express also reported that 53-year-old Rai had a close professional relationship
01:58 with former RAW chief Samant Kumar Goel, who also hails from the Punjab Kedar of the Indian
02:04 Police Service.
02:05 Rai's expertise and experience eventually led to his empanelment for the position of
02:09 Joint Secretary or equivalent at the central level in 2018.
02:13 India strongly rejected the allegations around Nijar's death, claiming that they were "absurd
02:17 and motivated".
02:18 Reacting sharply to the allegations, the Ministry of External Affairs or MEA has asked a Canadian
02:24 diplomat to leave India within the next five days in a tit-for-tat move for Rai's expulsion.
02:29 For more information, visit www.nih.gov.au/report/report/report/index.html. For more information, visit www.nih.gov.au/report/report/index.html.
02:36 Thank you for watching.
02:43 [Outro Music]
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