Canada has withdrawn 41 diplomats from India amid a dispute over the murder of a Sikh separatist, announced foreign minister Melanie Joly, adding that Ottawa would not take retaliatory steps.
New Delhi last month asked Ottawa to reduce its diplomatic presence after prime minister Justin Trudeau said there was credible evidence of a potential link between Indian agents and the murder in June of Hardeep Singh Nijjar, 45, who was shot outside a Sikh temple in British Columbia.
Relations between India and Canada have plunged since Trudeau publicly linked Indian intelligence to the murder of Nijjar, a Canadian citizen whom New Delhi had labeled a “terrorist”.
Indian external affairs minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar said last month in New York that his country would be willing to examine any evidence presented by Canada.
Canada is home to about 770,000 Sikhs, or approximately 2% of the country’s population, with a vocal group calling for creating a separate state of Khalistan.
“We acknowledge the concerns and frustrations that this situation may cause for clients, families, educational institutions, communities, businesses in Canada as a whole,” he told the press conference.
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