Canada has transferred a majority of its diplomats working in India outside of New Delhi to either Kuala Lumpur or Singapore after India gave Canada an October 10th deadline to reduce its diplomats to achieve parity in strength following a row over the killing of terrorist, Hardeep Singh Nijjar.
The report in CTV News, a privately-owned Canadian television network, came after India earlier this week asked Canada to withdraw several dozen diplomats from its missions amid the escalating diplomatic conflict that erupted following Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s allegation linking Indian agents to the killing of Khalistani terrorist Nijjar in June.
India rejected the allegations as “absurd” and “motivated” and expelled a senior Canadian diplomat in a tit-for-tat move to Ottawa’s expulsion of an Indian official over the case. The Indian government had given Ottawa a deadline until October 10 to reduce Canadian diplomatic staff in that country to a level on par with the number of Indian diplomats in Canada.
Global Affairs Canada, the department that manages the country’s diplomatic and consular relations, had previously stated that “with some diplomats having received threats on various social media platforms,” it was “assessing its staff complement in India.”
“As a result, and out of an abundance of caution, we have decided to temporarily adjust staff presence in India,” the department said, just days after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau accused the Indian government of being involved in the murder.
India on Thursday asserted that Canada must reduce its diplomatic presence in the country to achieve parity in strength and alleged that some of the Canadian diplomats are involved in interfering in New Delhi’s internal matters, signalling a continuing degradation in the ties between the two nations over the killing of ‘Khalistani’ terrorist Najjar.
External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said in New Delhi that discussions on the modalities to arrive at mutual diplomatic presence are going on and gave a clear indication that India will not review its position on the issue.
He added that as Canadian diplomatic presence in India is much higher compared to India’s strength in Canada, it is assumed that there would be a reduction. “Our focus is on ensuring parity in diplomatic strength,” he said.
