Ottawa: Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau strongly criticized his own national security officials in a press conference and labelled them as 'criminals' for leaking classified and sensitive information to the media amid heightened diplomatic tensions with India after the murder of Khalistani activist Hardeep Singh Nijjar.

Amid heightened diplomatic tension with India, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau called his own intelligence officials "criminals" for linking Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar to violence on Canadian soil.

Ottawa says it has evidence linking Indian government agents to the 2023 murder of Sikh separatist Hardeep Singh Nijjar in Canada. This week, the Globe and Mail newspaper said Canadian security agencies believed Modi knew about the violent plots and said Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar and national security adviser Ajit Doval were also in the loop.

Canada has officially denied it has any evidence to link PM Modi, foreign minister S Jaishankar and NSA Ajit Doval with the murder of pro-Khalistan terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar, distancing itself from a Canadian media report earlier this week that quoted an anonymous security official to suggest that all three shared culpability for

The report comes amid strained India-Canada relations following allegations by Ottawa linking Indian diplomats, including High Commissioner Sanjay Verma, to Nijjar's murder.

The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) on Wednesday strongly rejected a Canadian media report linking Prime Minister Narendra Modi, External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar, and NSA Ajit Doval to the killing of Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar.

The Justin Trudeau government on Friday denied linking Prime Minister Narendra Modi, external affairs minister S Jaishankar and national security advisor Ajit Doval to criminal activities within Canada.