MELBOURNE, Australia — Australia’s foreign minister said Tuesday she had raised allegations with his Indian counterpart that India has targeted Sikh militants in Canada.

Foreign Minister Penny Wong said she discussed the Canadian allegations with Indian Foreign Minister S. Jaishankar while he was in the Australian capital, Canberra.

India has denied Canada’s allegation that Indian Interior Minister Amit Shah ordered the targeting of Sikh militants in Canada.

The Royal Canadian Mounted Police became public last with allegations that Indian diplomats were targeting Sikh separatists in Canada by sharing information about them with their government back home. They said senior Indian officials then passed that information to Indian organized crime groups who targeted the activists, who are Canadian citizens, with drive-by shootings, extortion and even murder.

Canada is not the only country to accused Indian officials to plot an assassination on foreign soil. The US Department of Justice announced criminal charges in mid-October against an Indian government employee in connection with an alleged foiled plot to kill a Sikh separatist leader living in New York.

The Justice Department said Vikash Yadav, who authorities say led the New York plot from India, faces murder-for-hire charges in an alleged killing that authorities say prosecutors, was believed to precede a series of other politically motivated killings in the United States. and Canada.

Wong said his message to the Sikh community was that people have the right to be safe and respected in Australia, no matter who they are.

“We have clearly expressed our concerns regarding the allegations under investigation. We said we respect Canada’s judicial process,” Wong said at a news conference with Jaishankar.

“We convey our views to India as you would expect and we have a principled position on issues such as the rule of law and the independence of the judiciary and also, frankly, the sovereignty of all countries,” she added. .

Jaishankar said Canada had placed Indian diplomats under surveillance, which was “unacceptable.”

Australia maintains close intelligence-sharing ties with Canada as a member of the Five Eyes alliance which also includes the United States, Britain and New Zealand.

Over the weekend, India formally protested Canada’s allegations that Sikh activists were being targeted there, calling them “absurd and baseless.”

Jaishankar on Tuesday also condemned reports of vandalism at a Hindu temple near Toronto in Canada, calling them “deeply concerning.” In videos posted on social media, protesters waving yellow flags in support of the Sikh separatist movement can be seen clashing with others, including some waving the Indian national flag, inside the temple complex. Indian consular officials were visiting the temple where the clashes broke out. It is not clear how the violence began.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau called the violence at the temple “unacceptable,” adding that “every Canadian has the right to practice their faith freely and safely.”

This violence sparked strong criticism on Monday from Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. “Equally appalling are the cowardly attempts to intimidate our diplomats. Such acts of violence never weaken India’s resolve,” he wrote on social media platform X, adding that India expects Canada to ensure justice.

On Monday evening, a demonstration involving demonstrators waving the Indian national flag near the same temple was ordered to disperse after Peel Regional Police said on social media that weapons were seen in the crowd. Police declared the protest an unlawful assembly and warned that anyone who remained could be arrested.

Relations between the two countries deteriorated after Trudeau said last year that there was credible evidence that the Indian government had links to the assassination of a Sikh activist. Hardeep Singh Nijjar in Canada. India vehemently rejected this accusation.

New Delhi, long concerned about Sikh separatist groups, has increasingly accused the Canadian government of giving free rein to separatists in a once-strong movement aimed at creating an independent Sikh homeland, known as Khalistan, in India.

The diplomatic dispute led to expulsion top diplomats from each camp last month.

Jaishankar said, “We believe in freedoms, but we also believe that freedom should not be misused. »

Trudeau said Modi stressed to him at a G20 summit in India last year that he wanted Canada to arrest people who spoke out against the Indian government. Trudeau said he told Modi he believed these actions fell within the scope of freedom of expression in Canada.

Trudeau added that he told Modi his government would work with India on concerns about terrorism, incitement to hatred or anything unacceptable in Canada. But Trudeau also noted that advocating separatism, while not a Canadian government policy, is not illegal in Canada.

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Associated Press writer Krutika Pathi in New Delhi contributed to this report.