Last Updated: October 20, 2023, 06:38 IST
Canada’s Foreign Minister Melanie Joly and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau attend the Canada-CARICOM Summit in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada October 18, 2023. (Reuters File Photo)
Canada withdraws diplomats from India amid diplomatic row over Sikh separatist killing, straining India-Canada relations
Canada said Thursday it had withdrawn 41 diplomats from India amid the diplomatic fallout between the two countries over the killing of Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar. “We have facilitated their safe departure from India,” Foreign Affairs Minister Melanie Joly said during a news conference. “This means that our diplomats and their families have now left.”
India-Canada ties plunged last month after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau accused the Indian government of having a link to Nijjar’s killing on Canadian soil. These allegations, which New Delhi has strongly denied, resulted in tit-for-tat expulsions of diplomats on both sides.
The Indian government has called the Canadian accusations over the killing “absurd” and advised its nationals not to travel to certain Canadian regions in the wake of the growing anti-Indian activities. New Delhi also temporarily stopped processing visa applications in Canada and requested parity in diplomatic staff.
During the presser, Joly said New Delhi planned to revoke diplomatic immunity for all but 21 of Canada’s diplomats and their families by Friday. She said Canada did not plan to retaliate in kind and would continue to engage with India.
The India-Canada row has its roots in the June killing of Nijjar who was shot dead by two masked assailants in the parking lot of a Sikh temple near Vancouver. The 45-year-old Sikh separatist, who immigrated to Canada in 1997 and became a Canadian citizen in 2015, was wanted by Indian authorities for alleged terrorism and conspiracy to commit murder.
After Canada asked India to cooperate in the probe of the killing, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar last month said in New York that his country would be willing to examine any evidence presented by Canada. Jaishankar also raised the point of continued Canadian inaction following attacks on Indian consulates in the country.
“We have actually been badgering the Canadians. We’ve given them loads of information about organized crime leadership which operates out of Canada,” Jaishankar said, referring to Sikh separatists. “We have a situation where actually our diplomats are threatened, our consulates have been attacked and often comments are made (that are) interference in our politics,” he said.
(With agency inputs)
