Canada Further Escalates Diplomatic Tensions With India As Foreign Minister Joly Says Remaining Indian Diplomats Are “On Notice”

India and Canada’s diplomatic ties reached a significant low on 14 October when New Delhi announced its decision to withdraw its High Commissioner to Ottawa and “other targeted diplomats” and expelled six Canadian diplomats.

However, in a further escalation from the Canadian side on Friday (18 October), Canada's Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly issued a warning for the Indian diplomats who remain stationed in the country.

Speaking at a press conference in Montreal, Mélanie Joly stated that the remaining 15 Indian diplomats were “clearly on notice” regarding their conduct in Canada and that they must adhere to Canadian laws.

“We won’t tolerate any diplomats that are in contravention of the Vienna Convention,” Joly added.

The growing rift between India and Canada comes after India rejected allegations made by the Justin Trudeau government on the alleged involvement of Indian diplomats in the killing of Khalistan separatist Hardeep Singh Nijjar.

The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), the national police service in Canada, have said there have been imminent threats to members of the South Asian community, in particular Sikh members aligned with the pro-Khalistan movement.

She noted that this kind of interference had not been observed in Canada before, drawing comparisons to similar actions by Russia against other nations.

“There was definitely a threat and that’s exactly why the RCMP decided to take the extraordinary measure of making public the fact that Canadians were being intimidated, victims of extortion or even death threats because agents and diplomats from India were linked to these criminal actions,” Joly said.

India-Canada relations have been severely strained since September of last year, after Trudeau alleged in the Canadian Parliament that Indian agents were involved in the June 2023 assassination of Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar.

India refuted these accusations, labelling them as politically motivated.

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