Ties between New Delhi and Ottawa have become seriously strained over Canadian suspicion that Indian government agents had a role in the June murder in Canada of a Sikh separatist leader and Canadian citizen, Hardeep Singh Nijjar, who India had labelled a “terrorist”.
Nijjar, 45, was the president of Guru Nanak Sikh Gurdwara temple in Surrey, British Columbia and advocated for the creation of a Sikh state known as Khalistan.
India has dismissed the allegation as absurd.
The 'Financial Times', citing people familiar with the Indian demand, said India had threatened to revoke the diplomatic immunity of those diplomats told to leave who remained after October 10.
Canada has 62 diplomats in India and India had said that the total should be reduced by 41, the newspaper said. The Indian and Canadian foreign ministries did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Indian Foreign Minister Dr S Jaishankar said earlier there was a “climate of violence” and an “atmosphere of intimidation” against Indian diplomats in Canada, where the presence of Sikh separatist groups has frustrated New Delhi.
Canada is home to about 770,000 Sikhs, the highest population outside India's Punjab region, and the Indian government has for decades expressed its displeasure with some community members' outspoken support for Khalistan.
Amid claims and counter-claims from Canada and India, both countries have issued travel advisories urging their citizens to "exercise utmost caution" while traveling to some regions in the other country.
Furthermore, India's visa processing center in Canada suspended services and the Canadian Foreign Ministry said it would reduce diplomatic staff in India.
The growing animosity between Canada and India will have ramifications for the development of their bilateral ties, said observers in Canada and India.
India has been the major source of international students to Canada, with Indians making up about 40 percent of all overseas students, a major source of income for the educational sector.
"The way the last few days have played out will be remembered as possibly the lowest point in relations between Canada and India. The latest incident will have, obviously, wider ramifications in their overall bilateral relationship. For example, the proposed trade talks between Canada and India have become uncertain for now," Bhanu Bhakta Acharya, an adjunct professor of media studies at the University of Ottawa, told Xinhua in an interview.
"At a time when a major global geopolitical reordering is underway, Canada and India, which have no major clash of strategic interest, should be close partners. Indeed, their shared goals, including universal adherence to international law, make them natural allies," Brahma Chellaney, a professor of Strategic Studies at the Center for Policy Research in New Delhi, said in an opinion piece in Canadian newspaper The Globe and Mail.
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