Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Friday alleged that the Indian government's decision to revoke the diplomatic immunity of 41 Canadian diplomats is making normal life difficult for millions of people in both nations. "The Indian government is making it unbelievably difficult for life as usual to continue for millions of people in India and in Canada. And they’re doing it by contravening a very basic principle of diplomacy,” he told to reporters in Ontario, news agency ANI reported citing Canada-based television network Global News.
What Justin Trudeau said?
He went on to say that he is really worried about this for the happiness and well-being of the millions of Canadians who are descended from people who lived on the Indian subcontinent. A day prior to Trudeau's comments, Canada announced that it had removed 41 diplomats in response to an announcement from India that it was revoking their status.
India's response on Canada's accusation
Earlier today (October 20), the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said no international norms were violated in India seeking parity in the mutual diplomatic presence in New Delhi and Ottawa. Canada had accused India of violating the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations. Canadian Foreign Minister Melanie Joly on Thursday said Canada has removed 41 diplomats and their 42 dependents from India amid the ongoing row between the two countries. "We reject any attempt to portray the implementation of parity as a violation of international norms," the external affairs ministry said.
The MEA statement noted that the state of the ties between India and Canada as well as Ottawa's continued presence in India's internal affairs warrant a "parity" in mutual diplomatic presence in New Delhi and Ottawa. "We have seen the Statement by the Government of Canada on October 19 regarding Canadian diplomatic presence in India," the ministry statement read. "The state of our bilateral relations, the much higher number of Canadian diplomats in India, and their continued interference in our internal affairs warrant a parity in mutual diplomatic presence in New Delhi and Ottawa," it added.
India-Canda deteriorating ties
It is pertinent to mention here that India has engaged with Canada over the past month in order to work out the details and modalities of its implementation, the MEA statement read, adding that India's actions in implementing the parity are fully consistent with Article 11.1 of the Vienna Convention on diplomatic ties. The relations between India and Canada have soured since Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau claimed in September that the Indian government was responsible for the fatal shooting of terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar, a member of the Khalistani movement. However, India has categorically denied the allegations, referring to them as "absurd" and "motivated." Notably, Canada has yet to provide any public evidence to support the claim about the killing of Nijjar.
(With inputs from ANI)
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