The Canadian government has called back 41 of its 62 diplomats from India after New Delhi requested a decrease in the country’s diplomatic presence on their soil. The reduction in diplomatic presence was requested to achieve parity between the two countries’ staff in the host countries.
These developments come amid a diplomatic standoff between the two countries as a result of Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s accusations that the Indian government was behind the assassination of a Canadian national, Hardeep Singh Nijjer, who was a wanted terrorist in India.
Mélanie Joly, Minister of Foreign Affairs, and Marc Miller, Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship issued a statement stating that the removal of Canadian diplomats was made after India communicated its plan to remove immunities unilaterally for all but 21 Canadian diplomats and dependents in New Delhi by October 20, 2023.
“Given the security implications of India’s actions on these Canadian diplomats and their families, Canada has facilitated their safe departure from India,” the statement read.
“A unilateral revocation of diplomatic privileges and immunities is contrary to international law, including the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations. This action taken by India is completely unreasonable and escalatory,” the Ministers further said.
Meanwhile, India maintained that their request for parity in diplomatic presence is well within the boundaries of international law.
“Our actions in implementing this parity are fully consistent with Article 11.1 of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations. We reject any attempt to portray the implementation of parity as a violation of international norms,” the Indian Ministry of External Affairs said.
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