Clearly on notice: Canada’s Foreign Minister on expelling remaining Indian diplomats

The 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.

She asserted that the government would not tolerate any diplomats who contravene 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,” Joly said when asked if more Indian diplomats will be expelled.

Canada accused Indian officials of involvement in the murder of Hardeep Singh Najjar, 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 Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) said that they named the Indian Ambassador and other diplomats as “persons of interest” in the probe. However, Ottawa has failed to provide any evidence, even one year after first raising the allegations.

Foreign Minister Joly further alleged 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 news agency 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 Justin Trudeau’s country had withdrawn more than 40 diplomats from India in October 2023 after New Delhi asked Ottawa to reduce its diplomatic presence.