Many Canadian Diplomats Depart India Overnight, says report

Following a two-week negotiation period between India and Canada, sparked by India's call for "parity" in diplomat numbers, CBC News, citing an informed source, reported on the subsequent departures.

New Delhi: large number of Canadian diplomats have left India overnight, a media report said on Thursday.

The departures followed two weeks of negotiations between India and Canada after India issued a demand for “parity” in the number of diplomats present in the two countries, CBC News reported, citing a source with knowledge of the situation.

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Earlier this month, it was reported that Canada has withdrawn 40 diplomats from India.

Last month, the diplomatic relations between the two nations have hit an all time low after Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau alleged in Parliament that Indian intelligence agents may have been involved in the murder of Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar.

Following Trudeau’s allegations, both the countries had expelled a diplomat each.

Refuting Canada’s allegations, India had termed it “politically driven”.

On September 21, while replying to questions related to a possible reduction of Canadian diplomats stationed in India, External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said: “Yes, we’ve informed the government of Canada that there should be parity in strength in our mutual diplomatic presence. Their number is very much higher than ours in Canada… I assume there will be a reduction from the Canadian side.”