When India and Canada expelled each other’s diplomats in the past few days, the exchange escalated a tussle over a rash of attacks on Sikhs living in Canada in recent years and spurred headlines around the globe.

The diplomatic rift has suddenly grown more stark as Canada amplifies its accusations that India is directing lethal operations abroad.

India’s government is denying that it works with mobsters to target Sikh separatists in Canada as alleged publicly this week by Canadian officials in an escalating diplomatic dispute