Canada has shifted a number of its diplomats stationed at missions in India outside of New Delhi
| Photo Credit: The Hindu

Canada has shifted a number of its diplomats stationed at missions in India outside of New Delhi to Singapore and Kuala Lumpur, CTV news of Canada has reported citing sources.

The report came a day after External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Arindam Bagchi informed that the two sides were in conversation to ensure “parity” in the presence of diplomatic staff in each other’s missions. 

The Ministry is yet to comment on the report and the High Commission of Canada said it had “no comment” to offer. During the weekly press briefing held on Thursday, Mr. Bagchi did not confirm if India wanted evacuation of 41 Canadian diplomats as was reported by the Financial Times on October 3 but reiterated that Canada maintained “much higher” diplomatic presence in India. He said: “I would assume there would be a reduction.” 

Citing Canadian sources, CTV news reported on Friday that the issue was not about removing 41 diplomats but to address India’s call for “parity” in diplomatic staff. Movement of foreign diplomats from India to neighbouring countries is a rare development indicating nosediving relation between Ottawa and New Delhi. 

For more than a fortnight, India-Canada relation has been caught in an unprecedented crisis over the June 18 murder of Khalistan Tiger Force chief Hardeep Singh Nijjar. The matter took a dramatic turn when Prime Minister Trudeau took it up in the Canadian parliament and blamed Indian agents for being behind the murder. 

Canada expelled a senior Indian diplomats immediately after Mr. Trudeau made the statement in the House of Commons on September 18. India described the charge as “absurd” and hit back by expelling a senior Canadian diplomat from the Canadian High Commission here. Further, India also implemented a visa ban for Canadian citizens which, however, exempted owners of valid Indian visas and PIO-card holders. 

The Financial Times report, however, indicated an escalation in the crisis which came more or less simultaneously with a slew of comments by External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar, who in his public comments in the U.S. referred to Canada giving space to extremists. 

Mr. Trudeau and Foreign Minister Melanie Joly has maintained that they were in talks with India with the latter maintaining that it was necessary for Canada to have diplomats on the ground in Delhi as relation between the two sides has hit an “extremely challenging time”.  

National Security Council spokesman John Kirby speaks during a press briefing at the White House, Tuesday, Oct. 3, 2023, in Washington.
| Photo Credit: AP

The Canadian allegations regarding India’s involvement in the killing of a pro-Khalistan leader are “serious” and need to be investigated fully, the White House has said.

Hardeep Singh Nijjar, the chief of the banned Khalistan Tiger Force (KTF), was killed in Surrey, British Columbia on June 18. India had designated Nijjar as a terrorist in 2020.

The claims made by Canada were discussed when visiting External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar and National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan met here last week, John Kirby, Coordinator for Strategic Communications at the National Security Council in the White House told reporters at a news conference here.

“The issue was discussed. We’ll certainly leave it to those two countries to talk about their bilateral relationship,” Mr. Kirby said in response to a question.

“We’ve been clear, these allegations are serious, they need to be fully investigated and of course, as we’ve said before, we urge India to participate actively in that investigation,” Mr. Kirby said.

State Department’s Deputy Spokesperson Vedant Patel told reporters at a separate news conference that it’s critical that Canada’s investigation proceeds and the perpetrators are brought to justice.

“We also have, as we’ve previously said publicly and privately, urged the Indian government to cooperate in the Canadian investigation and cooperate in those efforts,” he said.

The U.S., he said, has seen the reports on the diplomatic staffing levels for the Canadian High Commission in New Delhi.

“But I don’t have anything further to offer on those reports and certainly don’t want to get into hypotheticals and take this process one step at a time. As it relates to our Indo-Pacific strategy and the focus that we continue to place on the region, that effort and that line of work is going to continue,” he said.

“With India, we are partners with them in the Quad and in many others, and we continue to work with them and other countries in the region on a number of important issues.

“But as I said, we take these allegations very seriously and we continue to not just work closely with our Canadian partners but have publicly and privately urged the Indian government to cooperate with Canada,” Mr. Patel said.

Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
| Photo Credit: AP

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau did not respond to questions about India rejecting allegations made by him in Parliament about India’s involvement in the killing of a prominent Khalistani separatist leader.

Mr. Trudeau was in the United Nations Headquarters to attend the high-level 78th session of the UN General Assembly.

On September 20, he spoke at the Climate Ambition Summit, the UN Security Council meeting on Ukraine and at the Global Carbon Pricing event at an especially constructed SDG Pavilion on the UN premises.

On two different occasions and venues within the UN premises, PTI posed a question to Mr. Trudeau about India rejecting his allegations but he did not respond and walked away, surrounded by his security detail.

India has strongly rejected Mr. Trudeau’s statement made in the Canadian Parliament and said “allegations of Government of India’s involvement in any act of violence in Canada are absurd and motivated.” Mr. Trudeau has made allegations in the Canadian Parliament of the involvement of “agents of the Indian government” in the killing of Hardeep Singh Nijjar, 45, the chief of the banned Khalistan Tiger Force (KTF).

Nijjar was one of India’s most-wanted terrorists who carried a cash reward of ₹10 lakh on his head and was shot dead by two unidentified gunmen outside a gurdwara in Surrey in the western Canadian province of British Columbia on June 18.

Bilateral ties between India and Canada have been tense in recent months. Trade talks have been derailed and Canada just cancelled trade talks.

Amid the growing diplomatic row between the two countries, India on Wednesday advised all its citizens living in Canada and those contemplating travelling there to exercise “utmost caution” in view of growing anti-India activities and “politically-condoned” hate crimes in the North American country.

In a strongly-worded advisory, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) in New Delhi referred to “threats” targeting Indian diplomats and sections of the Indian community that oppose the “anti-India agenda”, and asked Indian nationals to avoid travelling to regions and potential venues in Canada which have seen such incidents.

Canada’s Immigration Minister Marc Miller sought to reassure Indian nationals on Wednesday that it is safe to travel to the country even as a leader of the Sikh separatist movement banned in India has announced plans for rallies in Canadian cities on Monday that seek the closing of New Delhi’s diplomatic missions here, The Globe and Mail newspaper reported.