Toronto/New Delhi, Oct 20: Canada has withdrawn 41 diplomats from India after it threatened to strip them of their diplomatic immunity by Friday, Foreign Affairs Minister Melanie Joly has said, amid a diplomatic row over the killing of a Sikh separatist.
Canada has also announced that it will be “pausing” all in-person services at its consulates in Chandigarh, Mumbai and Bengaluru and was directing all Canadians in India to the High Commission in New Delhi.
In New Delhi, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) on Friday rejected Canada’s attempt to “portray” the withdrawal of 41 Canadian diplomats from the country as a violation of international norms. India asserted that ensuring two-way diplomatic parity is fully consistent with the provisions of Vienna Convention on diplomatic relations.
“We reject any attempt to portray the implementation of parity as a violation of international norms,” the MEA said in a statement.
Tensions flared between India and Canada last month following Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s explosive allegations of the “potential” involvement of Indian agents in the killing of Khalistani extremist Hardeep Singh Nijjar on June 18 in British Columbia. India had designated Nijjar as a terrorist in 2020. India has rejected Trudeau’s allegations as “absurd” and “motivated”.
“The state of our bilateral relations, the much higher number of Canadian diplomats in India, and their continued interference in our internal affairs warrant a parity in mutual diplomatic presence in New Delhi and Ottawa,” it said.
The MEA said it has been engaged with the Canadian side on the issue over the last month in order to work out the details and modalities to ensure implementation of parity in diplomatic presence.
In Ottawa, Foreign Minister Joly said that India has formally conveyed its plan to “unilaterally remove diplomatic immunities for all but 21 Canadian diplomats and dependents in Delhi by tomorrow, October 20.”
Joly said that in their “unreasonable” request for diplomatic parity, India would only allow 21 diplomats and their families to maintain their diplomatic status, putting the others at risk of having their protections stripped arbitrarily, leaving them vulnerable to reprisal or arrest.
Calling India’s action “contrary to international law,” and in violation of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, Joly accused India of escalating the bilateral tensions, but Canada will not be reciprocating. (PTI)
