EARLIER this week, Canada’s Foreign Minister Mélanie Joly confirmed that Canada has withdrawn 41 of its diplomats including their families from India.
This was confirmed by Canada’s Foreign Minister Mélanie Joly on Thursday, October 19th local time.
Joly stressed that revoking the immunity of the 41 diplomats is not only unprecedented and contrary to the Vienna Convention on International Relations, but that threatening to do so is also unreasonable and escalatory.
Due to this, the government of Canada has had to put a pause on all in-person services in their consulate in Chandigarh, Mumbai, and in Bangalore.
India didn’t violate Vienna Convention after Canada withdraws diplomats –MEA
However, in response to the Canadian foreign minister’s claims, India’s Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) recently issued a statement saying,
“In the absence of specific agreement as to the size of the mission, the receiving State may require that the size of a mission be kept within limits considered by it to be reasonable and normal, having regard to circumstances and conditions in the receiving State and to the needs of the particular mission.”
“We reject any attempt to portray the implementation of parity as a violation of international norms.”
It can be remembered that in September, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau made an explosive statement in the House of Commons that his government was pursuing “credible allegations” from Canadian intelligence against New Delhi for playing a role in the assassination of Canada’s Prominent Sikh Leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar on Canadian soil some four months ago.
The Sikh Canadian leader had been a prominent advocate of the Khalistan Movement, which seeks to establish a separate homeland for the Sikh Community in India’s Northwestern Punjab Region.
Amid claims and counter-claims from Canada and India, both countries have issued travel advisories urging their citizens to “exercise utmost caution” while traveling to some regions in the other’s country.
