DELHI — India and Canada have appointed new high commissioners to each other's countries, in the latest step to restore ties strained by the killing of a Sikh separatist leader in a Vancouver suburb in 2023.

India's previous high commissioner left Canada last October after Ottawa expelled him, linking six diplomats to the murder of Hardeep Singh Nijjar — though Delhi insisted he was withdrawn.

That same day, India ordered out six senior Canadian diplomats, including the acting high commissioner.

The mutual expulsion of top diplomats last year marked an unprecedented low in an otherwise cordial relationship.

Nijjar, designated a terrorist by India in 2020, was shot dead by two gunmen outside a Sikh temple in Vancouver in June 2023.

Relations between the two countries deteriorated months later after former prime minister Justin Trudeau alleged "credible allegations" linking Indian government agents to Nijjar's killing.

India called the accusations "absurd and motivated" and accused Canada of providing shelter to Sikh separatists.

At their first meeting in Canada in June, PM Modi and Trudeau's successor Mark Carney agreed to reinstate senior diplomats, a sign of thaw in relations.

Ottawa has now named Christopher Cooter as its new envoy to Delhi, while India has appointed Dinesh K Patnaik, currently ambassador to Spain, as its representative in Canada.

Canada's Foreign Minister Anita Anand said the appointment of Mr Cooter was part of a "step-by-step approach to deepening diplomatic engagement" with India.

India's foreign ministry said Mr Patnaik was "expected to take up the assignment shortly".

India has sharply criticised Canada for tolerating the pro-Khalistan movement, saying Ottawa has long been aware of and monitoring such groups. The Khalistan movement calls for an independent homeland for Sikhs in India.

There are some 770,000 Sikhs living in Canada, home to the largest Sikh diaspora outside the Indian state of Punjab. — BBC