On Friday, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau stated that millions of people in both nations were finding it difficult to live their regular lives as a result of the Indian government’s crackdown on Canadian diplomats. A day earlier, Trudeau had said that Canada had removed 41 ambassadors due to an Indian threat to revoke their status unilaterally.
“The Indian government is making it unbelievably difficult for life as usual to continue for millions of people in India and in Canada. And they’re doing it by contravening a very basic principle of diplomacy,” Trudeau mentioned.
“It’s something that has me very concerned for the wellbeing and happiness of millions of Canadians who trace their origins to the Indian subcontinent,” at a live-streamed news conference in Brampton, Ontario, he informed the media.
According to Trudeau, the removal of certain Canadian ambassadors will hinder trade and travel, as well as provide challenges for Indian students studying in Canada. Five percent of Canadians, or around two million people, are of Indian descent. India accounts for about 40% of study permit holders in Canada, making it the country from which most international students come.
The notion that it had broken the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations was previously denied by the Indian Foreign Ministry.
“The state of our bilateral relations, the much higher number of Canadian diplomats in India, and their continued interference in our internal affairs warrant a parity in mutual diplomatic presence in New Delhi and Ottawa,” it noted in a statement.
There are presently 21 Canadian ambassadors serving in India.
