External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Sunday said India invoked diplomatic parity for Canada forcing it to withdraw 41 of its diplomats, because of concerns about “continuous interference” in the country's affairs by Canadian personnel. This diplomatic parity is very much provided for by Vienna convention, the minister asserted amid allegations from the international community of violation of the convention.
India suspended visa services for Canadians across the world and asked Canada to withdraw 41 diplomats from India, failing which they and their families would lose diplomatic immunities -- a move that has invited criticism from the United States and United Kingdom, who have firmly backed Canada and urged India to uphold its obligations under the 1961 Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, including with respect to privileges and immunities enjoyed by accredited members of Canada's diplomatic mission.
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This is the latest development in the ongoing row between India and Canada which began last month when Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau alleged there was a "potential link" of Indian agents with the death of a Khalistani terrorist in Canada, identified as Hardeep Singh Nijjar. The external affairs minister today said that India is likely to resume issuance of visas to Canadians if it sees progress in the safety of Indian diplomats in Canada.
On downsizing Canada's diplomatic presence in India, he said diplomatic parity is very much provided for in the Vienna Convention on diplomatic relations. "Parity is very much provided for by the Vienna Convention, which is the relevant international rule on this. In our case, we invoked parity because we had concerns about continuous interference in our affairs by Canadian personnel," Jaishankar said.
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Jaishankar further said the relationship between India and Canada right now is going through a difficult phase, adding that India has problems with certain segment of Canadian politics. "We haven't made much of that public. My sense is over a period of time more stuff will come out and people will understand why we had the kind of discomfort with many of them which we did," he said.
