Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar said on Friday evening that there is a "climate of violence" and "atmosphere of intimidation" against Indian diplomats in Canada, where the presence of Sikh separatist groups has frustrated New Delhi.

Jaishankar said to reporters on Friday evening in Washington: "Given the freedom of expression, and the threats and intimidation of diplomats, I do not think this is acceptable."

Relations between India and Canada have recently soured, largely due to the presence of Sikh separatists in Canada who have kept the movement for Khalistan alive, or the claim for a separate Sikh state from India.

The Canadian Foreign Ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Earlier this month, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau alleged that Indian agents may have played a role in the killing of Sikh separatist leader and Canadian citizen Hardeep Singh Nijjar, whom India designated as a "terrorist" in June.

New Delhi rejected these accusations, calling them absurd. Washington urged India to cooperate with Canada in the investigation of the murder.

In 2018, Trudeau assured India that Canada would not support anyone trying to revive a separatist movement in India, while he has repeatedly stated that he respects the right to freedom of expression and the gathering of protesters to demonstrate.

Canada is home to an influential Sikh community, and Indian leaders have stated that some fringe groups there still sympathize with the cause of an independent Sikh state. The issue hardly enjoys any support in India.

The demand for Khalistan has emerged several times in India, most notably during the violent insurgency in the 1980s and 1990s that paralyzed the state of Punjab for more than a decade.

This insurgency also led to the deaths of tens of thousands of people, and the Khalistan movement is considered a security threat by the Indian government, as Sikh militants were blamed for the bombing of an Air India Boeing 747 in 1985 while it was flying from Canada to India, killing all 329 people on board.

Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi was assassinated in 1984 by two of her Sikh bodyguards after she allowed the storming of the holiest Sikh temple, aimed at ousting Sikh separatists.