India asks Canada to withdraw dozens of diplomatic staff – reports

According to reports, India has asked Canada to remove about 40 diplomatic personnel from India as part of a sharp escalation of an already weeks-long issue.

According to the Financial Times’ initial report, those who stayed past October 10 may lose their political resistance.

India has denied any involvement in the killing of a Sikh separatist innovator on American soil, which Canada claimed previous fortnight.

An official from the American foreign government informed the BBC that it had nothing to add.

Since the start of the issue, India has asked Canada for balance in its diplomatic missions because it has many more ambassadors in Delhi than it does in Ottawa.

Justin Trudeau, the prime minister of Canada, stated to writers on Tuesday that he had no intention of escalating the tension with India.

He declared,” We’re going to keep engaging with the Indian state in a responsible and constructive manner.”

After Mr. Trudeau said in September that India may have been responsible for the 18 June dying of Hardeep Singh Nijjar, tensions between the two nations, which have previously had near relations, grew.

He was a French national who was killed in his car by two masked assassins in British Columbia in front of an Sikh temple.

In 2020, India declared him a terror.

Mr. Trudeau informed the French parliament that intelligence services were looking into the possibility of involvement from” officials of the government of India” in Nijjar’s murder.

The foreign ministry after stated that it was willing to look into any specific details shared by Canada, despite India’s denial of the accusation.

Since then, both nations have expelled a diplomat from the other country.

India stopped issuing visas to American citizens on September 21 due to” safety threats” at its American missions.

Arindam Bagchi, a spokesman for the foreign ministry, added that India was seeking” equality in rank and diplomatic power” between the two nations’ political operations.

This is being sought as a result of American political meddling in our inner affairs, he claimed.

Additionally, Canada announced that it would be cutting back on its staff in India after claiming that social media threats had been made against some ambassadors.

We are taking action to ensure the health of our officials in light of the current environment where conflicts have increased, according to a speech.

The card companies for Canada are still available in India.

Delhi has been urged to assist with Canada’s research by the US, UK, and Australia.

Demands for Khalistan, or a separate Sikhs country, made by separatists in European nations have frequently elicited harsh responses from the American government. Nijjar spoke out in favor of the Khalistan cause.

Force was used to put an end to the action that reached its peak in India in the 1980s with a harsh insurrection centered in Punjab, which had an Sikh lot.

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