INDIA TELLS CANADA TO WITHDRAW DOZENS OF ITS DIPLOMATS FROM THE COUNTRY OVER NIJJAR MURDER RIFT: REPORT

Tue 03 October 2023:

India has demanded that Canada withdraw approximately 40 diplomats from the country, Financial Times reported on Monday.

The reported move has unfolded amid tensions between the two nations after Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau alleged publicly on Sept. 18 that India was involved in the assassination of Sikh-Canadian leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar outside a Sikh temple in Surrey, British Columbia in June.

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Citing sources familiar with the matter, the Financial Times said that New Delhi has set a deadline of Oct. 10 for their repatriation and has threatened to revoke the diplomatic immunity of those who remain beyond that date.

According to the report, the Canadian High Commission in New Delhi has a larger number of diplomats compared to India’s representation in Ottawa. This disparity is attributed to the substantial consular section required to assist relatives of the approximately 1.3 million Canadians who assert Indian heritage.

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The report also said that Ottawa currently has 62 diplomats in India, and New Delhi has instructed them to reduce this number by 41 people.

The Indian and Canadian foreign ministries did not immediately react to the report.

After Trudeau’s accusation, which also called for India to cooperate in an investigation into Nijjar’s killing, Canada expelled a top Indian diplomat.

The Indian government reacted strongly, calling the allegations “absurd,” and in a tit-for-tat move expelled a Canadian representative.

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In addition, New Delhi froze visa services for Canadians. The government issued a travel advisory of its own, telling Indian citizens that “in view of growing anti-India activities and politically-condoned hate crimes and criminal violence in Canada, all nationals there and those contemplating travel are urged to exercise utmost caution.”

Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar said earlier there was a “climate of violence” and an “atmosphere of intimidation” against Indian diplomats in Canada, where the presence of Sikh separatist groups has frustrated New Delhi.

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Canada is home to about 770,000 Sikhs, the highest population outside the northern Indian state of Punjab, and the Indian government has for decades expressed its displeasure with some community members’ outspoken support for Khalistan.

There are 15 Sikh members in Canada’s House of Commons, more than 4 percent of the seats, while comprising only about 2 percent of the Canadian population.

A rebellion seeking a “Sikh homeland” of Khalistan killed tens of thousands in the 1980s and 1990s and was crushed by India. It has almost no support in Punjab today.

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In 2020, India accused Nijjar of making “hateful speeches” and “seditionary and insurrectionary imputations” and designated him as being “involved in terrorism”.

SOURCE: INDEPENDENT PRESS AND NEWS AGENCIES

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