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India's actions making life hard for millions of people: Canada PM Trudeau

India's actions making life hard for millions of people: Canada PM Trudeau

Canada has withdrawn 41 diplomats from India after it threatened to strip them of their diplomatic immunity by Friday; MEA rejects Ottawa's claim of violating international norms

Business Today Desk
Business Today Desk
  • Updated Oct 20, 2023 10:47 PM IST
India's actions making life hard for millions of people: Canada PM TrudeauIndia's actions making life hard for millions of people: Canada PM Trudeau
SUMMARY
  • Trudeau spoke a day after Canada said it had withdrawn 41 diplomats
  • MEA rejects Ottawa's claim of violating international norms
  • Tensions flared between India and Canada last month following Trudeau's explosive allegations of the 'potential' involvement of Indian agents in the killing of Khalistani extremist Hardeep Singh Nijjar

Amid the ongoing diplomatic row, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said on Friday the Indian government's crackdown on Canadian diplomats was making normal life difficult for millions of people in both countries.

Trudeau spoke a day after Canada said it had withdrawn 41 diplomats following an Indian threat to unilaterally revoke their status. New Delhi is angry that Trudeau last month suggested Indian agents might have been involved in the June murder of a Sikh separatist leader in Canada.

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"The Indian government is making it unbelievably difficult for life as usual to continue for millions of people in India and in Canada. And they're doing it by contravening a very basic principle of diplomacy," Trudeau said.

"It's something that has me very concerned for the wellbeing and happiness of millions of Canadians who trace their origins to the Indian subcontinent," he told reporters at a televised press conference in Brampton, Ontario.

Trudeau said the expulsion of some of Canada's diplomats will hamper travel and trade and pose difficulties for Indians studying in Canada.

Around two million Canadians, 5% of the overall population, have Indian heritage. India is by far Canada's largest source of global students, making up for roughly 40% of study permit holders.

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The Ministry of External Affairs earlier rejected the idea it had violated the Vienna convention on diplomatic relations.

"The state of our bilateral relations, the much higher number of Canadian diplomats in India, and their continued interference in our internal affairs warrant a parity in mutual diplomatic presence in New Delhi and Ottawa," it said in a statement. Canada now has 21 diplomats remaining in India.

Canada has withdrawn 41 diplomats from India after it threatened to strip them of their diplomatic immunity by Friday, Foreign Affairs Minister Melanie Joly has said, amid a diplomatic row over the killing of a Sikh separatist.

Canada has also announced that it will be ''pausing'' all in-person services at its consulates in Chandigarh, Mumbai and Bengaluru and was directing all Canadians in India to the High Commission in New Delhi.

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In New Delhi, the Ministry of External Affairs on Friday rejected Canada's attempt to ''portray'' the withdrawal of 41 Canadian diplomats from the country as a violation of international norms. India asserted that ensuring two-way diplomatic parity is fully consistent with the provisions of Vienna Convention on diplomatic relations.

''We reject any attempt to portray the implementation of parity as a violation of international norms,'' the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said in a statement.

Tensions flared between India and Canada last month following Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's explosive allegations of the ''potential'' involvement of Indian agents in the killing of Khalistani extremist Hardeep Singh Nijjar on June 18 in British Columbia. India had designated Nijjar as a terrorist in 2020.

India has rejected Trudeau's allegations as ''absurd'' and ''motivated''.

''The state of our bilateral relations, the much higher number of Canadian diplomats in India, and their continued interference in our internal affairs warrant a parity in mutual diplomatic presence in New Delhi and Ottawa,'' it said.

With inputs from agencies

Published on: Oct 20, 2023 10:31 PM IST
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