Canada forced to pull 41 diplomats from India amid row over Sikh leader's murder

Canada's foreign minister has said that 41 of the country's diplomats have been removed from India after the Indian government said it would revoke their diplomatic immunity.

Foreign Minister Melanie Joly said on Thursday that 41 diplomats as well as their dependents had been removed.

Joly said exceptions have been made for 21 Canadian diplomats who will remain in India.

"Given the implications of India's actions on the safety of our diplomats, we have facilitated their safe departure from India," she told a press conference.

"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," she said.

India had previously called for a reduction in Canadian diplomats in India, saying they outnumbered India's staffing in Canada.

India reportedly gave October 10 as a deadline and reportedly threatened to revoke all diplomatic immunity to those who stay after that date.

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, businesses in Canada as a whole," he told the press conference.

Visa application centres in India are operated by third-party contractors and would not be affected, he said.

Sikh activist killing

The decision comes after Canadian accusations that Indian government agents were involved in the assassination of a Sikh separatist leader in suburban Vancouver.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said last month that there were "credible allegations" of Indian involvement in the slaying of Hardeep Singh Nijjar, a 45-year-old Sikh leader whom masked gunmen killed in June in Surrey, outside Vancouver.

India dismissed Canada's allegations as "absurd" and, in turn, accused Ottawa of harbouring "extremists."

Canada is home to the largest Sikh community in the world outside of India, with 770,000 Canadians professing Sikhism in 2021, or two percent of the country's population.

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Source: TRT