NEW DELHI: Have any of the 41 ‘excess’ Canadian diplomats been posted out yet after India insisted on parity? While earlier reports suggested some of them have been evacuated or shifted out, London’s Financial Times claimed no Canadian diplomat has left India so far.
Both the Ministry of External Affairs and the Canadian High Commission in New Delhi refrained from making any comments. The UK daily also claimed that External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar held talks with his Canadian counterpart Melanie Joly in New York on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly to resolve bilateral differences after Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau had alleged India’s involvement in the killing Khalistani extremist Hardeep Singh Nijjar.
“We want parity as Canadian diplomats are seen interfering in our internal matters. Therefore, we would like the Canadian missions to downsize,’’ MEA spokesperson Arindam Bagchi had said earlier. Meanwhile, Trudeau has been making phone calls to various heads of state — including British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, Jordanian king Abdullah II bin Al-Hussein and UAE President Mohamed Bin Zayed. He mentioned the Nijjar killing in all his conversations and spoke about the India-Canada diplomatic row.