The United States and Britain on Friday urged New Delhi not to insist Canada reduce its diplomatic presence in India and expressed concern after Ottawa pulled out 41 diplomats amid a dispute over the murder of a Sikh separatist.
This really rises to one of 2023’s oddest stories. I mean, I don’t even have a square for “Indian-Canadian Cold War” on my 2023 bingo card.
This is the best summary I could come up with:
Canada has alleged Indian involvement in the June murder in a Vancouver suburb of Canadian citizen and Sikh separatist leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar, whom India called a “terrorist.”
Analysts say the U.S. and the UK do not want to damage ties with India, which they view as a counterbalance to their main Asian rival China.
But Friday’s statements from the U.S. State Department and Britain’s Foreign Office have been the most direct criticism by Washington and London of New Delhi thus far in this case.
“We do not agree with the decisions taken by the Indian government that have resulted in a number of Canadian diplomats departing India,” a spokesperson for Britain’s Foreign Office said.
Canada on Friday said it was temporarily suspending in-person operations at consulates in several Indian cities and warned of visa processing delays.
It said “the unilateral removal of the privileges and immunities that provide for the safety and security of diplomats is not consistent with the principles or the effective functioning of the Vienna Convention.”
The original article contains 371 words, the summary contains 170 words. Saved 54%. I’m a bot and I’m open source!
i would hope the uk would??? i mean we are commonwealth… why are we still commonwealth?
