The news comes amid claims by Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister Melanie Joly on Tuesdaythat the government was engaged diplomatically with India on the issue of staff reduction
Toronto: In response to a request to withdraw 41 out of its 62 diplomats in India by October 10 to achieve a parity in the number of diplomatic staff in each country, Ottawa has reportedly shifted its staff from its High Commission to Southeast Asia, according to a media report, an IANS report in The Tribune, Chandigarh, says.
The CTV report said that Canada has moved the majority of its diplomatic staff from India and shifted them to either Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia) or Singapore.
The news comes amid claims by Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister Melanie Joly on Tuesday, Oct 3, that the government was engaged diplomatically with India on the issue of staff reduction.
“We are in contact with the government of India. We take Canadian diplomats’ safety very seriously, and we will continue to engage privately because we think that diplomatic conversations are best when they remain private,” Jolie had said.
Amid the worsening bilateral ties, India has asked Canada to withdraw the 41 diplomats from the country by October 10 and failing to comply with the deadline will see them lose their diplomatic immunity.
There are more than 60 Canadian diplomats posted in India.
Meanwhile on Thursday, Oct 5, the External Affairs Ministry, India, said that a parity has been sought in diplomatic presence.
“On discussions on parity, given the much higher presence of diplomats or diplomatic presence here and their interference in our internal matters, we have sought parity in our respective diplomatic presence,” External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Arindam Bagchi told mediapersons in response to a question on the issue.
He further informed that discussions are ongoing to achieve parity.
“Given that Canadian diplomatic presence is higher, we would assume that there would be a reduction,” he said.
Last month’s allegations by Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau that Indian intelligence agents may have been involved in the murder of Sikh pro-Khalistan hardliner Hardeep Singh Nijjar, diplomatic relations between the two nations. have hit an all time low
India had termed Canada’s allegations as “politically driven”.
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