India Asks Canada To Pull Out Around 40 Diplomats By 10 October Or Their Diplomatic Immunity Will Be Axed: Report

Amidst ongoing tensions surrounding the killing of a Khalistani terrorist, India has asked Canada to withdraw a significant number of diplomats from the country, Financial Times reported on Tuesday (3 October).

New Delhi has told Ottawa that around 40 diplomats must be repatriated by 10 October, the report said, citing people familiar with the demand.

Currently, Canada has 62 diplomats stationed in India, with India insisting that this number be reduced by 41, the newspaper reported.

Furthermore, India had reportedly threatened to revoke the diplomatic immunity of diplomats who remain in the country after the that date.

Earlier, New Delhi has said it wanted “parity” in the number and grade of diplomats each nation posts to the other.

The diplomatic ties between New Delhi and Ottawa hit a low point when Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau last month suggested that the Indian government may be involved in the the killing of Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar.

Nijjar, a designated terrorist in India, was fatally shot in a parking lot outside a Gurdwara in Surrey, British Columbia, on 18 June.

During a debate in the Canadian Parliament, Trudeau claimed that Canada's national security officials had evidence to believe that the "agents of the Indian government" were involved in Nijjar's killing.

Following Trudeau's claim, Canadian government expelled an Indian diplomat.

India strongly rejected Trudeau's allegations, calling them "absurd" and "motivated" and in a tit-for-tat move expelled a senior Canadian diplomat.

Further, New Delhi also suspended visa services for Canadians.