New Delhi/IBNS: India has slammed Canada after an Ottawa media report which claimed Prime Minister Narendra Modi was involved in a plot to kill Khalistani separatist Hardeep Singh Nijjar.

A Canadian media report quoted unnamed Canadian officials who claimed that along with Modi, the Indian national security advisor and External Affairs Minister were also aware of the alleged plot.

In a befitting reply, Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said, "We do not normally comment on media reports. However, such ludicrous statements made to a newspaper purportedly by a Canadian government source should be dismissed with the contempt they deserve. Smear campaigns like this only further damage our already strained ties."

India-Canada standoff over Khalistani row

A recent standoff between New Delhi and Ottawa was triggered after Canada Prime Minister Justin Trudeau accused Indian officials of being involved in the killing of Nijjar.

India had expelled six Canadian diplomats and asked them to leave the country last month after Ottawa said it was investigating the Indian ambassador and other diplomats as "persons of interest" in connection with the killing of a Sikh separatist leader last year.

Canada too asked six Indian diplomats to leave the country alleging that its police reportedly got hold of evidence that they claimed to be a part of an Indian government "campaign of violence".

The Indian government had also decided to withdraw its High Commissioner in Canada after Ottawa's accusations which the Modi government called an act of "vote bank politics".

However later in a statement which leaves India vindicated, Trudeau had said he had no "hard evidentiary proof" to back his claims that India government officials were involved in Nijjar's killing.