Indian and Canadian officials said the details of the reduction are still being resolved, and it is unclear how many Canadian diplomats will have to leave India. But that number — and the damage to bilateral ties — is likely significant.
“We have seen Canadian diplomatic interference in our internal affairs,” Bagchi said at a regular briefing in New Delhi. “This is a factor taken into account for seeking parity and rank equivalence in our mutual diplomatic presence.”
Bagchi also noted that Canada currently had a much larger diplomatic staff in New Delhi than India does in Ottawa.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau stunned the world this week by announcing in Parliament there were “credible allegations” the Indian government was behind the execution of Hardeep Singh Nijjar, a Canadian citizen, outside a Sikh temple in Surrey, on June 18. Trudeau’s foreign minister, Mélanie Joly, followed up by expelling the Indian intelligence service’s station chief, who was operating under diplomatic cover.
India retaliated on Tuesday by expelling a Canadian diplomat, identified in Indian media as an intelligence official.
The tit-for-tat moves escalated sharply on Thursday with the Indian demand for Canada to draw down its diplomats, a step in line with India’s increasingly muscular and independent foreign policy.
In recent months, India has brushed aside Western pressure to criticize Russia for its war in Ukraine, dismissed questions over its continued purchases of Russian oil, and this week stridently refuted suggestions that it assassinated Nijjar on Western soil while arguing he needed to be brought to justice.
In a series of sharply-worded remarks on Thursday, Bagchi accused Trudeau of making a “primarily politically-driven” allegation against India and lashed out at Canada in general.
“We should look at the larger issue of terrorism and the fact that it is being funded and supported by our western neighbor Pakistan, but the issue of safe havens and places to operate is being provided abroad by places including Canada,” Bagchi said. “Are we going to justify and condone it?”
Bagchi also said that India had stopped issuing new visas to Canadians, attributing the pause to security threats against Indian diplomats in Canada and a staffing shortage there.
BLS International, the Indian company that processes visa applications in Canada, cited “operational reasons” for the suspension of visa services “till further notice,” without elaborating.
The Canadian High Commission in India declined to comment whether it was requested to cut down its presence but said in an email that it was reducing its footprint after some diplomats “received threats on various social media platforms” and “in light of the current environment where tensions have heightened.”
“We expect India to provide for the security of our accredited diplomats and consular officers in India, just as we are for theirs here,” it said in the statement.
On Wednesday, an updated travel advisory from India urged its citizens to “exercise extreme caution” when traveling in Canada, citing what it said were “anti-India activities and politically-condoned hate crimes” in the country. “All Indian nationals there and those contemplating travel are urged to exercise utmost caution,” the ministry said.
Dominic LeBlanc, the Canadian minister of public safety, dismissed the advisory, calling Canada a safe country. “I took note of India’s travel advisory. People can read into that what they want,” he told reporters on Wednesday.
The 45-year-old Nijjar, who was wanted by India on terrorism charges, championed the Khalistan movement calling for creating an independent Sikh state in the Punjab region of India. The movement is outlawed in India, where authorities consider it a top threat to national security.
As the rift has escalated, Trudeau said earlier this week that Canada was not “looking to provoke or escalate,” calling on India to take seriously what he has described as “credible allegations.”
“We are simply laying out the facts as we understand them, and we want to work with the government of India,” he told reporters.
India has long accused the Canadian government of sympathizing with Sikh separatists such as Nijjar, whom it considered a terrorist, while Canada has denied those claims.
Months before Nijjar’s killing, India ramped up pressure on Canada, Australia, Britain and the United States — home to significant Sikh communities and frequent pro-Khalistan demonstrations — to crack down on the movement, including by breaking up protests outside India’s diplomatic outposts.
Francis reported from London. Andrew Jeong in Seoul contributed to this report.
