Toronto: After India asked 41 Canadian diplomats to leave the country by October 10, a majority of the Canadian diplomats working in India outside of Delhi have been evacuated to either Kuala Lumpur or Singapore, according to a media report on Friday.
This comes a day after External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said, "Discussions were "ongoing" regarding the timeline for Canadian officials leaving, "given the much higher" presence of Canadian diplomats and "their continuing interference in our internal affairs," "India had "sought parity in our respective diplomatic presence."
Global Affairs Canada had previously reported that with some diplomats having received threats on various social media platforms, it was 'assessing its staff complement in India.' Earlier this week, Canadian Foreign Minister Melanie Joly said that Canada wants private talks with India to resolve a diplomatic dispute over the murder of a Sikh separatist leader.
"We are in contact with the government of India. We take Canadian diplomats' safety very seriously and we will continue to engage privately because we think diplomatic conversations are best when they remain private", the Canadian foreign minister Melanie Joly said during a media briefing.
The relations between India and Canada have been pushed to a new low after Canadian PM Trudeau alleged that Indian govt agents were linked to the murder of the Sikh Separatist Nijjar Singh in Canada in June. However, India has rejected the allegation calling it 'absurd' and 'motivated'.
In retaliation to such allegations, New Delhi suspended new visas for Canadians on September 22 and asked Ottawa to reduce its diplomatic presence in the country. Trudeau said Ottawa was not looking to escalate the dispute.
