India revokes the immunity of 41 Canadian diplomats and forces their departure from the country

India has revoked the immunity of 41 of Canada’s 62 diplomats in the Asian country, forcing their departure from the country, the Canadian government reported this Thursday.

Canadian Foreign Minister Mélanie Joly stated at a press conference that she is organizing the departure of the 41 diplomats and their families and that the Canadian government will not “take similar retaliation” against India. “Given the implications of India’s actions for the security of our diplomats, we have facilitated their safe departure from India,” he told a news conference.

The expulsion of the Canadian diplomats comes after Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on September 18 implicated Indian authorities in a possible link between Indian agents and the June murder of Hardeep Singh Nijjar, a 45-year-old leader of the Sikh community. who was shot. died outside a Sikh temple in Vancouver.

India’s demand “clearly violates the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations”

India called as absurd Trudeau’s suspicions that his agents were linked to the killing of Nijjar, a Canadian citizen whom New Delhi had labeled a “terrorist”.

Accordingly, New Delhi asked Ottawa to reduce its diplomatic presence. Joly said the move had threatened to unilaterally revoke the diplomats’ official status on Friday unless they left. This measure “was unreasonable and unprecedented and clearly violated the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations,” the minister commented at a press conference.

also read