India said on Oct. 22 that its relationship with Canada is going through a difficult phase because of “continued interference” by Canadian personnel in New Delhi’s internal affairs.
The Indian government is angry that Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau last month suggested that Indian agents might have been involved in the June slaying of a Sikh separatist leader in British Columbia, an allegation that India denies.
“The relationship right now is going through a difficult phase,” Indian foreign affairs minister S. Jaishankar said at an event. “But I do want to say the problems we have are with a certain segment of Canadian politics and the policies which flow from that,”
Canada had to withdraw 41 of its diplomats from India on Oct. 19 as New Delhi decided to unilaterally revoke their official diplomatic status. The following day, Mr. Trudeau said India’s crackdown on Canadian diplomats is making normal life difficult for millions of people in both countries.
Jaishankar said India invoked diplomatic parity under the Vienna Convention “because we had concerns about continuous interference in our affairs by Canadian personnel.”
“We haven’t made much of that public,” Mr. Jaishankar said in a video clip shared by news agency ANI. “My sense is over a period of time, more stuff will come out and people will understand why we had the kind of discomfort with many of them which we did.”
Canada’s Foreign Minister Melanie Joly said last week that India’s stand was unreasonable and unprecedented, and clearly violated the Vienna Convention on diplomatic relations.
India had stopped issuing visas in Canada a few weeks ago due to concerns over the safety and security of its diplomats in going to work, Mr. Jaishankar also said. He said India would resume the issuance of visas if there was progress in the safety of its diplomats working there.
About 2 million Canadians, or 5 percent of the population, have Indian heritage. India is by far Canada’s largest source of overseas students, making up roughly 40 percent of study permit holders.
