Canada confirms staff evacuated from Delhi over several weeks

Canada has confirmed of relocating some lower-level diplomatic staff from its High Commission in New Delhi to Kuala Lumpur and Singapore

Toronto: Canada has confirmed of relocating some lower-level diplomatic staff from its High Commission in New Delhi to Kuala Lumpur and Singapore amid the ongoing tensions with India.

The evacuation took place over the last several weeks. Although no official statement has been made by the Canadian government on the evacuation of the staff from Delhi, government sources confirmed to the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation on Friday that the lower-level diplomatic staff has been shifted from Delhi to Malaysia and Singapore.

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However, the sources said, the decision to relocate diplomatic staff from Delhi was ‘not directly related to the demand this week from India for Canada to reduce its diplomatic footprint’.

India has given October 10 as the deadline for Canada to evacuate 41 of its diplomatic staff in India to bring about parity in the staff in each country. It has threatened to grant no diplomatic immunity to those who stayed beyond the deadline.

Canada-India relations plunged after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau told the House of Commons on September 18 about credible allegations of a potential link between agents of the government of India and the killing of pro-Khalistan Sikh hardliner, Hardeep Singh Nijjar. Nijjar, who was wanted in India for links to terrorist activities and spearheading the Khalistan referendum vote in Canada, was gunned down in June in a parking lot of a Surrey gurdwara in British Columbia.

Calling the allegations by Trudeau ‘absurd’ India responded by cancelling visa services in Canada and ordering two-thirds of Canadian diplomatic staff to leave the country by October 10.