NEW DELHI (Reuters) – The prime ministers of India and Canada condemned violence at a Hindu temple near Toronto on Sunday, amid rising diplomatic tensions between the two countries.

Videos posted on social media show people hitting each other with flagpoles and punching each other in the Toronto suburb of Brampton. It was not clear who instigated the violence and Reuters could not independently verify what happened.

The incident comes weeks after Ottawa expelled six Indian diplomats, linking them to the 2023 killing of a Sikh separatist leader in Canada. It accuses the Indian government of waging a broad campaign against South Asian dissidents in Canada, which New Delhi denies.

Local Peel Police said Monday that three people face criminal charges stemming from Sunday’s protest, without providing further details.

“Many illegal acts remain actively investigated,” police said in a statement. he said.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi issued a strongly worded statement about X on Monday.

“I strongly condemn the deliberate attack on a Hindu temple in Canada. The cowardly attempts to intimidate our diplomats are equally appalling,” Modi said.

“Such acts of violence will never weaken India’s resolve. We expect the Canadian government to ensure justice and uphold the rule of law,” he said.

His Canadian counterpart, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, said Sunday that the “acts of violence” were unacceptable.

India accused Trudeau of pursuing a “political agenda” in their dispute and responded to Ottawa’s expulsion of its diplomats by expelling six Canadian diplomats.

The North American-based activist group Sikhs For Justice said in a statement on Sunday that “peacefully protesting pro-Khalistan Sikhs…were violently attacked by a group of Indo Canadians.”

Indian media reported that an Indian consulate camp at the scene was targeted in the violence.

The foreign ministry in New Delhi said the violence was carried out by “extremists and separatists”.

The ministry said it remains “deeply concerned about the safety and security of Indian citizens in Canada.”

(Reporting by Shivam Patel in New Delhi and Anna Mehler Paperny in Toronto. Editing by Caroline Stauffer and Gareth Jones)