Team News Riveting
Chandigarh, October 20
Canada on Friday withdrew 41 diplomats and 42 accompanying dependents from India following the order from the Ministry of External Affairs here.
Visa services will be badly affected following the fresh development as India has locked horns with Canada after its Prime Minister Justin Trudeau alleged a potential Indian government link in the murder of Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar on Canadian soil.
“We are going to pause all in-person services at our consulates in Chandigarh, Mumbai and Bengaluru,” Canadian Foreign Minister Melanie Joly announced at a press conference today. Only Delhi window would remain operational.
“I can confirm that India has formally conveyed its plan to unilaterally remove diplomatic immunities for all but 21 Canadian diplomats and dependents in Delhi by October 20,” she said. The MEA had told Canada to reduce its diplomatic staff by October 20. “We had no choice but to comply. The safety of Canadians, of our diplomats, is always my top concern,” Joly said, adding that India’s decision to declare persona non grata is unreasonable. “But we will not retaliate,” she added.
She said only 21 Canadian diplomats would remain in India. Canada maintained a larger complement of diplomatic staff here than India in Canada on grounds that it had to process huge amounts of visas, especially for students who touched a record 2.26 lakh in 2022. In all, the Canadian missions in India processed over six lakh visas.
Joly claimed that Indians were suggesting lack of security for the diplomats if they did not leave. “The safety of Canadians and of our diplomats is always my top concern. Given the implications of India’s actions on the safety of our diplomats, we have facilitated their safe departure from India,” she said, adding that it was a “clear violation” of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations. “And threatening to do so is unreasonable and escalatory,” she added.
