Canada Starts Withdrawing Diplomats From India After New Delhi’s Prod: Report
After New Delhi’s prod regarding the number of Canadian diplomats posted in India, Canada is believed to have shifted a majority of its diplomats either to Kuala Lumpur or Singapore, Canadian media CTV News said.
Amid the India-Canada diplomatic row, triggered by Justin Trudeau publicly accusing India of murdering Sikh separatist leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar in Canada, India asked Canada to move 41 of its diplomats out of India in order to bring parity between the number of diplomats each country has — posted in the other. The external affairs ministry earlier accused Canadian diplomats of interfering in India’s internal affairs and said they are far more in numbers than India has in Canada. New Delhi reportedly gave Ottawa time till October 10 to make this shift, but CTV reported that the majority of the Canadian diplomats working in India outside Delhi have been evacuated to either Kuala Lumpur or Singapore.
India’s call to reduce Canadian diplomats from India was the latest diplomatic blow delivered by New Delhi after suspending visa services in Canada. On the issue of Hardeep Singh Nijjar, India told Canada that targetted killing is not India’s policy and that if Canada has some specific intelligence regarding its accusation, it should provide those to New Delhi. Canada maintained that it had shared information with New Delhi weeks ago, which India rejected.
India, in turn, said it has been providing details of Khalistani terrorists to Canada but to no avail.
On thereduction of Canadian diplomats in India, external affairs minister spokesperson Arindam Bagchi on Thursday said the aim is to seek parity in the respective diplomatic presence. “Given that Canadian diplomatic presence is higher, we would assume that there would be a reduction,” he said.
21 Indian diplomats in Canada, 62 Canadian diplomats in India
Former Indian diplomat KP Fabian told news agency ANI that India has 21 diplomats in Canada while Canada has 62. Hence the extra 41 need to be withdrawn. Otherwise, they will be declared persona non grata. “In other words, in retaliation for Canada expelling 1 diplomat, India is planning to expel 42 diplomats. This is the essence of the picture. The disparity is not always applied. So, parity has been brought in to put pressure on Canada. It is possible that there is a way out,” Fabian said.