India’s government dismissed Canada’s accusations of alleged crimes by a senior member of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s cabinet, and warned of serious consequences to bilateral ties.

India's interior minister Amit Shah, accused by Canada of being behind plots to target Sikh separatists in that country, has been Prime Minister Narendra Modi's closest aide for decades and is widely seen as his hard-nosed alter ego and potential successor.

A Canadian official alleged Tuesday that Indian Home Minister Amit Shah ordered a campaign of violence, intimidation and intelligence-gathering targeting Sikh separatists inside Canada. Deputy Foreign Affairs Minister David Morrison told Parliament members of the national security committee that he had confirmed Shah’s name to The Washington Post,

The Canadian government alleged on Tuesday that Indian Minister of Home Affairs Amit Shah, a close ally of Hindu nationalist Prime Minister Narendra Modi, was behind the plots to target Sikh separatists on Canadian soil.

Shah, a close ally of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and a key figure in India’s government, was publicly named in testimony by Canadian Deputy Foreign Affairs Minister David Morrison, who confirmed to the Washington Post that Shah was implicated in a recent series of assassination plots against Canadian Sikh activists.

India has officially protested the Canadian government’s allegation that the country’s powerful home minister Amit Shah had ordered the targeting of Sikh activists inside Canada, calling it “absurd and baseless.

India on Saturday denied home minister Amit Shah had plotted to target Sikh activists on Canadian soil and said it had officially rebuked Ottawa over the "absurd and baseless" allegation.