Canada Withdraws 41 Diplomats After India Threatens Immunity, Says Visa Processing To Be Affected At Consulates

Canada's Foreign Affairs Minister, Mélanie Joly, has confirmed the departure of 41 Canadian diplomats from India.

This decision came in response to the Narendra Modi government's threat to revoke their diplomatic immunity, which was prompted by Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's unsubstantiated allegations of Indian involvement in the killing of a terrorist in Canada.

"As of now, I can confirm that India has formally conveyed its plan to unethically remove diplomatic immunities for all but 21 Canadian diplomats and dependents in Delhi by October 20," said the Canadian Foreign Minister, as quoted by the news agency ANI.

According to a report from Canada's CBC News, a large number of diplomats left the country overnight.

These departures followed two weeks of negotiations between India and Canada, during which India insisted on achieving "parity" in the number of diplomats stationed in each other's countries.

The controversy stemmed from Prime Minister Trudeau's claim last month that Indian agents were connected to the murder of a Canadian citizen, Hardeep Singh Nijjar, in Surrey, B.C. on June 18.

India asserted that it had only 21 diplomats in Canada, while Canada had 62 diplomats in India, stationed across its High Commission in New Delhi and four consulates in Mumbai, Chandigarh, and Bengaluru.

Minister Joly announced that Canada will be forced to suspend in-person diplomatic services in all offices, except for the one in New Delhi, due to the reduced staffing levels resulting from the diplomats' departure.

Canada's Immigration Minister, Marc Miller, informed reporters that visa application centers will continue to operate as usual since they are managed by a third-party contractor.

However, he cautioned that the processing of these applications may experience delays as a result of the reduced diplomatic staff.

"Clients might see that their applications take longer to process and other questions take longer to answer," CBC News quoted him as saying.