India formally summoned Canada's deputy high commissioner Monday and decried what it called "disturbing actions being allowed to continue unchecked at the event".

India has summoned Canada’s Deputy High Commissioner and expressed “deep concern and strong protest” after separatist slogans in support of a Sikh homeland were allegedly raised at an event addressed by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

The Indian foreign affairs ministry on Monday decried what it called “disturbed actions being allowed to continue unchecked at the event”.

It didn’t specify what it took issue with but noted there were displays of separatism and alleged this illustrates Canada tolerating "extremism and violence."

“This illustrates once again the political space that has been given in Canada to separatism, extremism, and violence. Their continued expressions not only impact India-Canada relations but also encourage a climate of violence and criminality in Canada to the detriment of its own citizens,” the ministry said.

Trudeau joined Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre and NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh at the Khalsa Day rally in Toronto on Sunday.

The Canadian foreign ministry told the Reuters news agency that Trudeau “gathered with thousands” in Toronto to mark the occasion of Vaisakhi, a harvest festival celebrated by the people of northern India.

The rally commemorates the Sikh faith, and some participants chanted and carried banners emblazoned with slogans calling for a state separate from India, known as Khalistan.

“We will always be there to protect your rights and your freedoms, and we will always defend your community against hatred and discrimination,” India’s ANI news agency quoted Trudeau as saying at the event.

Bilateral diplomatic relations between New Delhi and Ottawa soured last year after Trudeau said Canada was “actively pursuing credible allegations” that Indian agents were potentially linked to the June 2023 murder of a Sikh leader who was a Canadian citizen.

Hardeep Singh Nijjar was shot dead outside a Sikh temple on June 18 in Surrey, a Vancouver suburb with a large Sikh population. The 45-year-old supported a Sikh homeland in the form of an independent Khalistani state and was designated by India as a “terrorist” in July 2020.

India has denied any formal government role in Nijjar’s murder.

Canada has the highest population of Sikhs outside the Indian state of Punjab and the North American country has been the site of many allegedly separatist demonstrations that have irked India.

Ottawa insists it will not infringe on free speech, including when Sikh people call for the existence of Khalistan.

But New Delhi says these comments violate its constitution.

India has pointed out instances of people in Canada openly glorifying those linked to the 1985 bombing of an Air India plane, whose passengers were largely Canadian citizens.