Despite rising concerns over political tensions, Indians still wish to immigrate to Canada.
41 Canadian diplomats have departed India, according to confirmation provided by Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly on Thursday, after threats from New Delhi to remove their diplomatic immunity. Many had left the nation over night, according to an earlier CBC News story.
According to a person with knowledge of the matter who spoke to CBC News, India demanded “parity” in the number of diplomats stationed in both countries, and the withdrawals came after two weeks of talks between the two nations.
The administration of Prime Minister Narendra Modi made this demand in response to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s accusation last month that Indian operatives were responsible for the June 18 murder of Canadian citizen Hardeep Singh Nijjar in Surrey, British Columbia.
India asserted that it only had 21 accredited diplomats in Canada, whereas Canada claimed to have 62 in India, distributed among its four consulates in Mumbai, Chandigarh, and Bengaluru, as well as its High Commission in New Delhi.
Because of the lower personnel complement, Joly stated that Canada will have to suspend in-person diplomatic services in all of its offices but the one in New Delhi.
Because the visa application facilities are managed by a third-party contractor, Immigration Minister Marc Miller informed reporters that business will continue as usual at them. He also mentioned that it will probably take longer to process such applications now.
According to officials, India accounts for 45% of the country’s international student population, 27% of newly arrived permanent residents, and 22% of temporary foreign workers.
According to reports, New Delhi gave Canada till October 10 to remove 41 ambassadors in order to equalise the size of the two diplomatic contingents. India threatened to revoke the diplomats’ diplomatic immunity, which shields them from detention and prosecution, if they stayed in the nation.