Friday, October 20, 2023
Canada announced on Thursday that it has withdrawn 41 of its diplomats from India, marking a significant deterioration in bilateral relations.
The withdrawal is the result of an ongoing dispute over the killing of a Sikh separatist on Canadian soil.
Canadian Foreign Minister Melanie Joly confirmed the move, saying New Delhi had threatened to lift the diplomatic immunity of all but 21 Canadian diplomats and their families by Friday, forcing Ottawa to recall remaining staff.
"We facilitated their safe exit from India," Joly said. “That means our diplomats and their families have now left.
Tensions between the two nations have been rising since Canada publicly linked Indian intelligence to the murder of Canadian citizen Hardeep Singh Nijjar near Vancouver in June.
Nijjar was a vocal supporter of a separate Sikh state, often referred to as Khalistan, carved out of India. Canada asked India to cooperate in the investigation, but Delhi strongly rejected the allegations and took retaliatory measures, including the suspension of visa services for Canadians. Additionally, Ottawa recently expelled an Indian diplomat in response to the issue.
Indian External Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar last month in New York expressed India's willingness to examine any evidence presented by Canada. He also noted, "We actually annoyed the Canadians. We gave them a lot of information about organized crime leaders operating outside of Canada," referring to Sikh separatist elements.
Jaishankar further pointed out that Indian diplomats have been threatened, Indian consulates have been attacked and comments have been made that amount to interference in Indian politics.
The Sikh separatist movement, which seeks the independent state of Khalistan, has largely died down in India, where security forces used lethal force to quell an insurgency in the 1980s. However, Canada is home to a sizeable Sikh population of approximately 770,000, representing about two percent of the country's population. Within this community, a vocal faction continues to advocate the creation of Khalistan.
Last month, hundreds of Sikh protesters rallied outside India's diplomatic missions in Canada, further fueling tensions by burning flags and trampling pictures of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Joe Hotha, a member of Toronto's Sikh community, expressed concern, saying, "We're not safe at home in Punjab, we're not safe in Canada."
