Canada removes 41 diplomats from India as dispute over Sikh activist’s assassination deepens

Ottawa CNN —

Canada has withdrawn 41 diplomats and their families from India after New Delhi threatened to revoke their diplomatic immunity amid a deepening dispute over the assassination of a Sikh activist.

The move follows a series of tit-for-tat diplomatic expulsions between the two countries following the June killing of Canadian citizen and prominent Sikh leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar, who was gunned down by two masked attackers in British Columbia.

A rift between the countries opened up after Canadian leader Justin Trudeau claimed his intelligence services were pursuing “credible allegations” that the killing was potentially linked to agents of the Indian government. India has vehemently denied any involvement in Nijjar’s death and called the claims “absurd and motivated.”

In addition to the tit-for-tat diplomatic expulsions, India has suspended visa services for Canadian citizens over what it says are “security threats” against diplomats in Canada.

Meanwhile, Canada on Friday announced it was temporarily suspending in-person operations at consulates in several Indian cities.

“The Consulates General of Canada in Bengaluru, Chandigarh and Mumbai are temporarily suspending in-person operations,” the Canadian High Commission in New Delhi said in a statement.

The Canadian High Commission added that in-person consular services remain available in New Delhi.

Last month India indicated it would ask several Canadian diplomats to leave the country, in a bid to establish diplomatic “parity.”

Commenting on the withdrawal of the 41 diplomats on Thursday, Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly said India’s recent actions had been “unreasonable.”

“The safety of Canadians and of our diplomats is always my top