No breach of the Vienna Convention exists in the request for Canada to remove diplomats: India's response

 No breach of the Vienna Convention exists in the request for Canada to remove diplomats: India's response

India was charged by Canada of violating the Vienna Convention by stripping 41 Canadian diplomats of their diplomatic immunity.

In a vehement response to Canada's announcement on the removal of some of its ambassadors in response to India's prodding, the ministry of foreign affairs said that no international standard had been broken in the pursuit of parity in the mutual diplomatic presence in New Delhi and Ottawa. In response to India's confirmation that 41 diplomats had been sent out of India, Canada accused India of breaking the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations. The MEA responded to Canada's accusation by saying, "We reject any attempt to portray the implementation of parity as a violation of international norms." Read | After 41 Canadian ambassadors depart India, the processing of visas will slow down.

Canada's remark that New Delhi's conduct was "unreasonable and escalatory" received a response from India.

The Canadian government released a statement on October 19 addressing its diplomatic representation in India. The status of our bilateral ties, the significant increase in the number of Canadian diplomats stationed in India, and their ongoing meddling in our domestic affairs call for an equal exchange of diplomats in New Delhi and Ottawa. In order to iron out the specifics and mechanisms of its implementation, we have been collaborating with the Canadian side on this over the last month. Article 11.1 of the Vienna Convention on the diplomatic relationship states that "In the unlikely event of specific agreement as to the magnitude of the mission, the receiving State might ask that the size of a mission be kept within limits to consider by it to be reasonable and normal, having consideration for circumstances and conditions in the acquiring State and to the needs of the particular mission," the MEA. The steps we took in implementing this equal treatment are fully consistent with this provision.

The controversy began when Justin Trudeau, the prime minister of Canada, charged India of murdering sikh separatist leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar. India refuted the allegation and requested specific information from Ottawa, which Canada claimed it provided but India refused. Canada did nothing when New Delhi repeatedly supplied information regarding Khalistani terrorists being protected there, according to New Delhi.

The Nijjar accusation-denial dispute was reduced to a diplomatic crisis. India ordered Canada to cut the number of Canadian diplomats stationed in India and stopped its visa services there. According to the MEA, Canadian diplomats in India have been meddling in domestic issues, and the number of diplomats deployed from Canada to India and the other way around is not equal.

Revocation of diplomatic immunity and privileges without warning: Canada

It was previously believed that New Delhi has given Ottawa till October 10 to recall 41 ambassadors from India. Canada stated that the deadline was October 20 in a statement it released on the subject on October 19. In a statement, the foreign affairs ministry of Canada accused India of "unilaterally revoking diplomatic privileges and immunities" in violation of "international law, especially the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations".

"This response by India is totally irrational and escalates the situation. Each and every one of the Canadian diplomats that India is now expelling is accredited. And each of those diplomats was doing their jobs in good faith and for the interest of both nations, according to the statement.

"Diplomatic immunity should be honored, and a host nation cannot unilaterally rescind it. No diplomat anywhere would be secure if we allowed this standard to be compromised. As a result, the Government of Canada will keep up its respect for diplomatic conventions and refrain from acting in kind, the country stated.