By Dylan Robertson in Ottawa
Canada has removed most of its diplomatic presence from India after New Delhi threatened to strip diplomatic immunities from them and their families, Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly said Thursday.
The minister said New Delhi had threatened to remove immunities on Friday, referring to the special rights and protections provided to diplomats while they are posted to other countries. Canada responded by calling back 41 diplomats and their 42 dependants, leaving just 21 diplomats in India.
She decried the "precedent-setting" threat as a violation that would have made it unsafe for diplomats to stay, and she said Canada would not reciprocate the move.
"A unilateral revocation of diplomatic privilege and immunities is contrary to international law," Joly told reporters at a news conference in Ottawa.
"It is a clear violation of the Vienna Convention on diplomatic relations, and threatening to do so is unreasonable and escalatory."
Joly said Canada's high commission in New Delhi remains operational, but Ottawa has paused in-person services at consulates in Chandigarh, Mumbai and Bangalore.
Immigration Minister Marc Miller said the lower staff levels will hamper the issuing of visas and permits.
"Later processing and slower services are expected for applications from India," he said at the same press conference.
"Clients might see that their applications take longer to process and other questions take longer to answer."
Relations with New Delhi have hit a deep freeze since Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced a month ago that Canadian intelligence services were investigating "a potential link" between India's government and the killing of a Sikh leader in British Columbia.
Joly would not share more information about the tenor of the current diplomatic conversation between Canada and India, or whether it is even taking place.
"I believe so much in diplomacy that I really think that diplomacy is best when it's kept private," Joly said.
She said repeated that Canada is seeking full co-operation from India in an ongoing investigation into the death of Hardeep Singh Nijjar, a Canadian Sikh separatist leader who was gunned down outside his gurdwara in Surrey, B.C.
Banner image: THE CANADIAN PRESS/Justin Tang
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 19, 2023.
