OTTAWA, Oct 20 — Canada has withdrawn 41 diplomats from India amid a dispute over the murder of a Sikh separatist leader, Foreign Minister Melanie Joly said on Thursday (October 19), adding that Ottawa would not take retaliatory steps.
New Delhi last month asked Ottawa to reduce its diplomatic presence after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau cited what he said was credible evidence of a potential link between Indian agents and the murder in June of Hardeep Singh Nijjar, 45, who was shot outside a Sikh temple in British Columbia.
Joly said India had threatened to unilaterally revoke the diplomats’ official status by Friday unless they left. This move, she said, was unreasonable and unprecedented and clearly violated the Vienna Convention on diplomatic relations.
“Given the implications of India’s actions on the safety of our diplomats, we have facilitated their safe departure from India.
“If we allow the norm of diplomatic immunity to be broken, no diplomats anywhere on the planet would be safe. So for this reason, we will not reciprocate,” Joly told a press conference.
Canada now has 21 diplomats in India. 42 dependents accompanied the 41 who left.
India has dismissed as absurd Trudeau’s suspicions that its agents were linked to the murder of Nijjar, a Canadian citizen whom New Delhi had labelled a “terrorist.”
Around two million Canadians, around five per cent of the overall population, have Indian heritage. India is by far Canada’s largest source of global students, making up roughly 40 per cent of study permit holders.
Immigration Minister Marc Miller said the diplomats’ departure meant Canada would slash the number of embassy staff dealing with immigration.
“We acknowledge the concerns and frustrations that this situation may cause for clients, families, educational institutions, communities, and businesses in Canada as a whole,” he told the press conference.
Third-party contractors operate visa application centres in India and will not be affected.
— Reuters
