Never agreed to restore embassy staff, Indian envoy says on Anand’s claim
Global News
Ottawa removed most of its diplomats from India in October 2023 after New Delhi threatened to strip diplomatic immunity from 41 Canadian officials and their 42 dependants.
India’s new envoy to Canada rejected Foreign Minister Anita Anand‘s claim that New Delhi has agreed to restore Canada’s full complement of diplomats.
Indian High Commissioner Dinesh Patnaik said Ottawa must first resolve delays in accrediting his diplomatic staff in Canada.
“It’s a reciprocal trust,” Patnaik told The Canadian Press in an interview last Thursday. “Trust has to be built up on both sides.”
His comments come as the Carney government pursues a reset of its relations with India — two years after Ottawa accused New Delhi of playing a role in assassinating a Sikh activist near Vancouver, and one year after the RCMP accused the Indian government of involvement in homicides and acts of extortion and coercion in Canada.
Ottawa removed most of its diplomats from India in October 2023 after New Delhi threatened to strip diplomatic immunity from 41 Canadian officials and their 42 dependants. Along with diplomats, Ottawa had experts in fields like defence and agriculture working in India at the time.
Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand visited India earlier this month and both countries released a joint statement pledging a stronger partnership.
Anand told reporters at the end of her visit that New Delhi would allow for the return of Canada’s full cohort of diplomats — though that wasn’t mentioned in the joint statement. She said Ottawa would not consider reopening trade talks until India takes this step.
“We both agreed that we would staff up as we had been before, in order to service our respective populations,” she said on Oct. 14.
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