Canada’s accusation that India’s home minister, Amit Shah, is the mastermind behind alleged attempts by New Delhi to assassinate pro-Khalistan members of the Sikh diaspora in that North American nation threatens to deepen the rupture in ties between the two countries. The claim, made by Canada’s deputy foreign minister, David Morrison, to members of the country’s national security committee in Parliament, also reflects attempts to sully India’s reputation as a trusted friend and a law-abiding state in the West. Unsurprisingly, India has rejected the allegation; the ministry of external affairs summoned a Canadian diplomat to lodge its protest. But this latest incident underscores that the relationship between New Delhi and Ottawa is on a steep and slippery slope with no bottom in sight. Both India and Canada have already expelled most of each other’s senior diplomats; New Delhi thus conveyed its strong rebuttal to the allegations against Mr Shah through a representative in the Canadian high commission. Meanwhile, Canada’s approach demonstrates that it has no intention of trying to repair the relationship. After its prime minister, Justin Trudeau, first accused India of orchestrating the killing of the Sikh separatist, Hardeep Singh Nijjar, Ottawa has repeatedly used public platforms, rather than quiet diplomacy, to hurl allegations at New Delhi. Those include claims that India’s withdrawn high commissioner, Sanjay Kumar Verma, led an espionage ring to target members of the Sikh diaspora.

Mr Morrison has now taken that policy to absurd heights. The Canadian government has admitted that it proactively approached The Washington Post with information on the matter. This is not acceptable diplomacy, and India is justified in feeling aggrieved. But New Delhi’s approach to this bilateral crisis needs to be looked at as well. It must take its arguments against Canada to influential friends, such as the United States of America, more forcefully. India’s larger image is at stake. The US state department said that Mr Morrison’s claim about Mr Shah — for which Ottawa has offered no evidence in public — was “concerning”. This should be worrying for New Delhi. If New Delhi cannot count on the US and its allies to stand up for it, it must reflect on that diplomatic failure and ask how much it can trust such friends on other issues. A bitter pill swallowed now is better than being blindsided in the future.