Indian authorities announced on Sunday that they had summoned a top Canadian diplomat stationed in New Delhi following a meeting of Sikh protesters outside India’s diplomatic mission in Canada.

Hundreds of people gathered outside the Indian consulate in Vancouver, western Canada, on Saturday to protest India’s ongoing manhunt for more than a week for Sikh separatist preacher Amritpal Singh, according to Canadian media.

India’s foreign ministry said it summoned Canada’s high commissioner on Saturday to “express our deep concern at the actions of separatist and extremist elements against our diplomatic and consular missions in Canada this week.”

“(We expect) the government of Canada to take steps to ensure the safety of our diplomats and our diplomatic representatives,” Indian diplomatic spokesman Arindam Bagchi said in a statement.

AFP

The hunt to catch Amritpal Singh has led to an internet shutdown and a ban on gatherings of more than four people in several places in northern Punjab state. About 100 people were arrested.

Amritpal Singh has risen to prominence in recent months for preaching radical Sikhism in rural Punjab, even demanding the creation of a Sikh splinter state called Khalistan.

AFP

New Delhi summoned a senior British diplomatic representative last week after Sikh protesters stormed and vandalized the Indian High Commission in London.

India has also expressed a “strong protest” to the US Department of State and the US Embassy in New Delhi, following the search of the Indian consulate in San Francisco.