NEW DELHI: India remains firm in its stand that Canada should downsize its diplomatic strength in India to ensure parity.
"We remain committed to what we said -- that is ensuring parity in diplomatic service. We remain engaged with Canadian authorities," said Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesperson Arindam Bagchi.
This implies that no Canadian diplomat has left India yet. Canada is having consultations with India to work out a way that would enable their diplomats to stay in the country.
Meanwhile, Canada has said that its diplomatic engagement with India remains 'private'. “Diplomacy is always better when conversations remain private,” Canada’s Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly had said in Ottawa on Wednesday.
Canada had also said that the Vienna Convention does not talk about diplomatic parity.
"As regards upholding international conventions, we would urge Canada to take more seriously their international obligations to provide security to our diplomats and their premises," said the MEA.
There was no timeline that India had given on when the Canadian diplomats would leave, so the MEA refrained from making any comments on that.
Meanwhile, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar had met his Canadian counterpart Melanie Joly in New York on the sidelines of the UNGA meeting.
"The EAM keeps meeting people at various forums so there is nothing more we can say on who all he met in the recent past," Bagchi added.
This confirms reports that the two ministers met in New York.
Meanwhile, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has been raking up the issue of the killing of slain Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar in all his conversations with other world leaders including UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, President of UAE and President of Jordan.
"I don’t know how this helps (speaking with other leaders) address the core issue. And the core issue is the space that Canada gives to terrorists and criminals," Bagchi added.
Meanwhile, no Canadian Parliamentarian is attending the P 20 meeting in Delhi, as per reports. India says that it has extended an invite to all G20 members and they would not know which country has opted out of attending the event.