Canda Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said that the expulsion of some of Canada’s diplomats will hamper travel and trade and pose difficulties for Indians studying in Canada.

Ottawa: After Canada announced the withdrawal of 41 diplomats in response to an Indian threat to unilaterally revoke their status amid a diplomatic dispute between the two countries, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau stated that New Delhi’s decision regarding Canadian diplomats was causing difficulties for millions of people in both countries in their daily lives.

“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. It’s something that has me very concerned for the well-being and happiness of millions of Canadians who trace their origins to the Indian subcontinent,” Trudeau told reporters at a televised press conference in Ontario.

The Canadian PM stressed that the expulsion of some of Canada’s diplomats will affect the travel and trade between both the countries, adding that it will also pose difficulties for Indians studying in Canada.

Notably, around two million Canadians which is approx. 5 percent of the overall population of the country, have Indian heritage. India stands as Canada’s predominant source of international students, accounting for approximately 40 percent of study permit holders.

Earlier, the New Delhi 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,” MEA said in a statement.

Canada now has 21 diplomats remaining in India.

India-Canada Diplomatic Row

Tensions between India and Canada escalated after PM Trudeau publicly, last month, levelled suspicions that Indian agencies were involved in the murder of Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar. Nijjar was shot dead at his house in a Vancouver suburb by unidentified gunmen on June 18. India however dismissed the allegation as absurd and both countries expelled a diplomat.

Following the diplomatic tussle, the New Delhi suspended new visas for Canadians and asked Ottawa to reduce its diplomatic presence the country.

Canada Foreign Minister Termed India’s Decision ‘unreasonable, unprecedented’

On Friday (local time), Canada’s Foreign Minister Melanie Joly stated that diplomats and their 42 family members were recalled, adding that Ottawa would not take retaliatory steps. She said that India had threatened to unilaterally revoke the diplomats’ official status by Friday unless they left, and added that this action was ‘unreasonable, unprecedented, and clearly violated the Vienna Convention on diplomatic relations’.

India-Canada Diplomatic Row:

This extreme step comes after the Indian Government suspended visa operations to Canada and called for a reduction in Canadian diplomats in India, calling for ‘parity’, owing to the escalating spat over the slaying of a Sikh separatist in Canada.

India-Canada Diplomatic Row: How It Started

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau recently made an allegation that the Indian Government and its intelligence agencies were responsible for the killing of Khalistan supporter Harshdeep Singh Nijjar. During a debate in the Canadian Parliament, Trudeau stated that his country’s national security officials had grounds to suspect that “agents of the Indian government” were involved in the killing of the Canadian citizen, who also served as the president of Surrey’s Guru Nanak Sikh Gurdwara.

However, New Delhi has rejected these claims, terming them ‘absurd’ and ‘motivated’. It’s worth noting that Canada has not yet presented any public evidence to substantiate the assertion regarding the killing of Hardeep Singh Nijjar. Nijjar, who was designated as a terrorist in India, was fatally shot in a parking area outside a Gurdwara in Surrey, British Columbia, Canada, on June 18.