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Relations between India and Canada have been rocky for some time. But this week, they hit new lows.

After Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Monday accused India of assassinating a Canadian Sikh in British Columbia, India angrily denied the charges. Both countries are up in arms, and the diplomatic row shows no sign of easing anytime soon.

We asked a pair of commentators, Barkha Dutt from India and David Moscrop from Canada, to give us a sense of the mood in their respective countries. — Damir Marusic

Barkha Dutt: India and Canada stand at the precipice of a breakdown in relations. Trudeau has only himself to blame.

The Canadian prime minister’s habit of turning a blind eye toward extremism in his country — secessionists who violently advocate for Khalistan, a separate homeland for Sikhs — has made him the most disliked world leader in India.

His claim that Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Indian government is behind the murder of one such person — Hardeep Singh Nijjar, the leader of the self-proclaimed Khalistan Tiger Force, and a designated terrorist in India — has cemented his poor reputation.

Nijjar was wanted for multiple crimes in India. In 2016, Indian authorities filed a red notice with Interpol for his arrest. On June 18, he was fatally shot in the parking lot of a Sikh temple by unidentified assailants. At the time, some Canadian journalists pointed to internecine battles within Khalistani groups. “It has all the makings of a gangland hit,” Terry Milewski, an expert on the global Khalistan network, told me.

Now, almost four months later, Trudeau is declaring Nijjar’s death an assassination. To Indians, the timing is as suspect as the claim.