Canada's Foreign Minister Says India's Remaining Diplomats Are 'Clearly on Notice'

Canadian Foreign Minister Melanie Joly stated on Friday that the remaining Indian diplomats in the country are "clearly on notice". Ottawa expelled six Indian diplomats earlier this week as bilateral relations between India and Canada hit rock bottom after Canada named Indian diplomats as "persons of interest" in the investigation into the murder of Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar.

This is because the government would not allow diplomats who contravened the Vienna Convention or put the lives of Canadians at risk. The Vienna Convention refers to international agreements dealing with different aspects of rules-based international order.

They are clearly on notice. Six of them have been expelled, including the high commissioner in Ottawa. Others were mainly from Toronto and Vancouver and clearly, we won't tolerate any diplomats that are in contravention of the Vienna convention," the Foreign Minister said when asked if more Indian diplomats will be expelled.

Canada had accused Indian officials of involvement in the murder of Hardeep Singh Nijjar, a designated terrorist, in June last year in British Columbia. The charge was raised by Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in Parliament in September 2023, which India rejected as absurd and politically motivated.

On October 14, the RCMP said that it had named the Indian Ambassador and other diplomats as "persons of interest" in the probe. However, one year since first raising the allegations, Ottawa has yet to provide any evidence.
Foreign Minister Joly added that the Canadian police has linked Indian diplomats to homicides, death threats, and intimidation in Canada.

We've never seen that in our history. That level of transnational repression cannot happen on Canadian soil. We've seen it elsewhere in Europe. Russia has done that in Germany and the UK and we needed to stand firm on this issue, she said in Montreal, according to PTI.

India expelled six Canadian diplomats earlier this week and also announced the withdrawal of its High Commissioner in Canada. Justin Trudeau's country had withdrawn more than 40 diplomats from India in October 2023 after New Delhi asked Ottawa to reduce its diplomatic presence.