All but 21 Canadian diplomats in India have been pulled out of that country, Foreign Affairs Minister Melanie Joly said Thursday, confirming the slashing of diplomatic staff by roughly two-thirds amid ongoing tensions between the two countries.
Joly said India has formally conveyed its plan to Ottawa to strip diplomatic immunity from 41 Canadian diplomats and their 42 family members by Friday.
Canada has facilitated the safe departure of those diplomats and their families from India, she added, noting the stripping of immunity “would put their personal safety at risk.”
“The safety of Canadians and of our diplomats is always my top concern, given the implications of India’s actions on the safety of our diplomats,” she told reporters in Ottawa.
Joly added Canada would not retaliate in kind, noting that doing so would be contrary to international law. She later said India’s actions were “unreasonable.”
“There is no reason under international law that would justify a country’s withdrawal of diplomatic immunity in this way overnight, and that includes the Vienna Convention,” Joly said in French.
“This is why I’m saying that it sets a precedent.”
Joly said Canada’s high commission in New Delhi remains operational, but Ottawa has paused in-person services at consulates in Chandigarh, Mumbai and Bangalore.
Immigration Minister Marc Miller said India’s actions mean Canada will be “significantly reducing” the number of consular workers in India, which will have an impact on the processing of temporary and permanent resident applications.
“The lower numbers of staff will have short-term repercussions, and I believe medium-term as well,” Miller said.
“Clients might see that their applications take longer to process and other questions take longer to answer.”
Miller stressed, however, that Canada remained committed to welcoming Indians into the country despite New Delhi’s actions.
Officials with Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada told reported after the press conference that 22 employees have left India, leaving just five Canadian staff in the country. Those staffers will be focused on urgent processing requests and other operations.
The reduction in staff is anticipated to create a backlog of roughly 17,500 applications, officials added, which they hope to clear by early 2024.
Relations with New Delhi have hit a deep freeze since Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced a month ago that Canadian intelligence services had “credible evidence” that agents of the Indian government may have been involved in the killing of Hardeep Singh Nijjar, a Canadian Sikh leader. Nijjar was gunned down outside his gurdwara in Surrey, B.C., in June.
New Delhi has publicly called for “parity” in the number of diplomats each country is hosting amid the row. India suspended the issuing of visas and permits to Canadians last month.
Global Affairs Canada’s public registry of foreign missions shows that India has about 60 staff across Canada. Roughly 19 of those hold status listed as diplomatic agents, representatives, consuls or high commissioner.
Joly would not share more information about the tenor of the current diplomatic conversation between Canada and India, or whether it is even taking place.
“I believe so much in diplomacy that I really think that diplomacy is best when it’s kept private,” Joly said.
She said repeated that Canada is seeking full cooperation from India in the ongoing investigation into Nijjar’s death.
—with files from the Canadian Press