Canada withdraws 41 diplomats from India amid dispute over murder of Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar

Canada has withdrawn 41 diplomats from India following a disagreement over the killing of a Khalistani terrorist, according to Foreign Minister Melanie Joly. She stated on Thursday that Canada will not respond with similar measures.
 
Joly said that India had threatened to unilaterally withdraw the diplomats' official status by Friday unless they left the country. She termed this move as 'unreasonable, unprecedented and a clear violation of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations'. She further added that, considering the implications of India's actions on the safety of Canadian diplomats, their secure exit from India was ensured. 

Joly asserted that if the norm of diplomatic immunity is breached, no diplomat globally would be safe, hence Canada would not reciprocate. The 41 diplomats were also accompanied by 42 dependents. 

Last month, New Delhi had requested Ottawa to scale down its diplomatic presence after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau alleged a potential link between Indian agents and the June murder of Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar, who was killed outside a gurdwara in a Vancouver suburb. India has dismissed Trudeau's suspicions of its agents being involved in Nijjar's murder as absurd.

Also read : Gaza church housing displaced Palestinians bombed in airstrike, death toll nears 4,000