Canada Foreign Minister Melanie Joly on Thursday disclosed that 41 Canadian diplomats have been withdrawn from their posts in India following the Indian government’s decision to strip them of their diplomatic immunity. This diplomatic shuffle comes amid the allegations from Canada that India may have played a role in the killing of a Sikh separatist leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar in suburban Vancouver.
Earlier media reports had revealed that India had requested the removal of 41 out of the 62 Canadian diplomats stationed in the country. Joly confirmed that these 41 diplomats, along with their family members, have been repatriated. However, 21 Canadian diplomats have been granted exceptions and will continue their work in India.
Is India being unreasonable? What Canada thinks
Minister Joly emphasized that the revocation of diplomatic immunity by India goes against international law but stated that Canada would not retaliate. India had previously voiced concerns about the disproportionate number of Canadian diplomats in India compared to Indian diplomats in Canada.
“They are a fundamental principle of diplomacy and this is a two-way street. They only work if every country abides by the rules. A unilateral revocation of diplomatic privilege and immunities is contrary to international law. It is a clear violation of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations and threatening to do so is unreasonable and escalatory,” she said.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau had recently raised credible allegations of Indian involvement in the murder of Nijjar, who was fatally shot by masked assailants in Surrey, near Vancouver. For years, India had accused Nijjar, a Canadian citizen originally from India, of having ties to terrorism, an assertion Nijjar denied.
(With inputs from Associated Press)