Canada Evacuates Diplomats from India, Report

New Delhi: Canada has reportedly evacuated its staff from its High Commission in New Delhi to Southeast Asia. India had asked Canada to withdraw 41 out its 62 diplomats in India by October 10 to achieve parity in the number of diplomatic staff in each country.

A CTV report said that Canada has evacuated the majority of its diplomatic staff from India and shifted them to either Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia) or Singapore. But there is no official declaration regarding it.

Meanwhile, on Thursday, External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said, “On discussions on parity, given the much higher presence of diplomats or diplomatic presence here and their interference in our internal matters, we have sought parity in our respective diplomatic presence.”

In September Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau had alleged in Parliament that Indian intelligence agents may have been involved in the murder of Sikh pro-Khalistan hardliner Hardeep Singh Nijjar. India termed Canada’s allegations as “politically driven”.

Following it the diplomatic relations between the two countries became tense. Both nations expelled a diplomat each.