New Delhi: India has rejected Canada’s allegations that New Delhi’s request for diplomatic parity is in “violation of international law and the Vienna Convention”. This comes hours after Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly announced that Ottawa has withdrawn 41 diplomats and 42 dependents following an ultimatum by India.
“Our actions in implementing this parity are fully consistent with Article 11.1 of the Vienna Convention. We reject any attempt to portray the implementation of parity as a violation of international norms,” the Ministry of External Affairs said in a statement.
At a press conference Thursday, Joly said Ottawa will be suspending in-person diplomatic services at the consulates in Chandigarh, Mumbai, and Bengaluru. She also claimed India’s reaction was “not measured” but that Canada will not be retaliating.
“The only thing we are encouraging India to do is to respect international law, so that is why today we have a principled approach, which is to make sure we will not reciprocate to their action of getting rid of diplomatic immunities to 41 of our diplomats, which is clearly contrary to international law,” Joly said.
India had repeatedly sought ‘parity’ in diplomatic presence amid its ongoing row with Canada. Last month, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau accused the Indian government of being involved in the killing of Sikh separatist and Canadian citizen Hardeep Singh Nijjar.
Nijjar was shot dead by unidentified assailants on 18 June in Surrey, British Columbia.
India rejected Trudeau’s allegations, calling them “absurd and motivated”. The two countries have also expelled each other’s diplomats.
Meanwhile, government sources said that India’s action of limiting the size of the Canadian High Commission to bring parity with the Indian High Commission in Ottawa was warranted by the state of India-Canada bilateral relations, the much higher number of Canadian diplomats in India, and their continued interference in our internal affairs.
“Our action is as per provisions of Article 11.1 of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations (VCDR) which provides the receiving state the right to limit the size of a diplomatic mission to what it considers reasonable and normal, having regard to circumstances and conditions in the receiving State and to the needs of the particular Mission. Article 11.1 has been used in the past by other countries on many occasions,” a source said.
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‘Attempts to portray India’s decision as arbitrary factually inaccurate’
On Thursday, Joly said that India gave “no good reason” for the overnight withdrawal of diplomatic immunity of its staff in India.
Meanwhile, government sources said that India’s action of limiting the size of the Canadian High Commission to bring parity with the Indian High Commission in Ottawa was warranted by the state of India-Canada bilateral relations, the much higher number of Canadian diplomats in India, and their continued interference in our internal affairs.
“Our action is as per provisions of Article 11.1 of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations (VCDR) which provides the receiving state the right to limit the size of a diplomatic mission to what it considers reasonable and normal, having regard to circumstances and conditions in the receiving State and to the needs of the particular Mission. Article 11.1 has been used in the past by other countries on many occasions,” a source said.
“I can confirm that India has formally conveyed its plan to unilaterally remove diplomatic immunity for all but 21 Canadian diplomats and dependents in New Delhi by tomorrow, October 20. This means 41 Canadian diplomats and 42 their dependents were in danger of having immunity stripped on an arbitrary date and this would put their safety at risk,” the Canadian foreign affairs minister said.
In its response Friday, the Ministry of External Affairs said: “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 added: “We have been engaged with the Canadian side on this over the last month in order to work out the details and modalities of its implementation.”
Canada has also updated its travel advisory urging citizens to “exercise a high degree of caution in India due to the threat of terrorist attacks throughout the country”.
Government sources told ThePrint that India had conveyed to Canada that in order to limit the size of the missions in New Delhi and Ottawa, only a specific number of diplomats would continue to enjoy diplomatic privileges and immunities.
Canada’s domestic legislation itself provides for comparable treatment of foreign diplomats to what its own diplomats get in a foreign country, as well as withdrawal of any of their diplomatic privileges and immunities, the sources said.
They added that India’s decision to seek parity was conveyed to Canada around a month ago, with a target implementation date of 10 October, 2023. This date was extended till 20 October 2023 as details and modalities of implementation — including the list of Canadian diplomats who would continue to be accorded diplomatic immunities and privileges — were being worked out in consultation with the Canadian side.
Attempts by Canada to portray this as an “arbitrary” and “overnight” decision is factually inaccurate, they said, adding that parity has been sought in the diplomatic representations in the Indian missions in Ottawa and New Delhi.
“There is no impact on Canadian diplomatic strength in their consulates in Bengaluru, Mumbai, and Chandigarh. The Canadian decision to cease operations of their three consulates in India, is unilateral, and not related to the implementation of parity,” a second source said.
(Edited by Uttara Ramaswamy)
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