Canadian Foreign Minister Melanie Joly on Thursday confirmed the repatriation of 41 diplomats posted in India after New Delhi lifted their diplomatic immunity. Addressing a press conference, Canada Foreign Minister Melanie Joly stated that India had threatened to unilaterally revoke the diplomats' official status by Friday unless they left. Notably, the Modi government had told Canada to repatriate 41 diplomats in order to maintain equal parity. Modi Government's order came after Canadian PM Trudeau accused New Delhi of carrying out the assassination of Hardeep Singh Nijjar on its soil who was most wanted in India over the Khalistan movement.
Giving an update on Canada's 41 diplomats' withdrawal from India, the country's Foreign Minister Melanie Joly during the press conference said This was "unreasonable and unprecedented and clearly violated the Vienna Convention on diplomatic relations".
"Given the implications of India's actions on the safety of our diplomats, we have facilitated their safe departure from India," said Melanie adding, "If we allow the norm of diplomatic immunity to be broken, no diplomats anywhere on the planet would be safe. So for this reason, we will not reciprocate." Notably, the 41 diplomats were accompanied by 42 dependents were repatriated from India by Canada.
It is pertinent to mention here that a journalist asked Canadian Foreign Minister Joly about the evidence that are still not being presented publically based on which Justin Trudeau accused New Delhi of carrying out the assassination of Hardeep Singh Nijjar.
"We had numerous conversations with India before, but when Prime Minister went in front of the house and made his declaration this was ....of Government of India." On being asked again whether Canada shared evidence with India, Joly said, "Through these conversations, Indian officials were made aware of the credible allegations. So, based on that India has decided to take their own decisions which are precedent-setting revoking the immunity of 41 diplomats. It's not only unprecedented but also contrary to international law."
What did India say about suspending Canada's 40 diplomats?
When the India-Canada diplomat row had initially sparked, MEA Spokesperson Arindam Bagchi had said, "Yes, we have informed the Canadian government that there should be parity in strength and rank equivalence in our diplomatic presence, in mutual diplomatic presence. Their numbers here are very much higher than ours in Canada. The details of this are being worked out, but I assume there will be a reduction from the Canadian side."