S Jaishankar said that India has problems with certain parts of Canadian politics. (File)
New Delhi:
India is committed to ensuring Canada’s equal diplomatic presence in the country amid concerns over interference by Canadian personnel in New Delhi’s affairs, Foreign Minister S. Jaishankar said on Sunday.
The foreign minister also said India would likely resume issuing visas to Canadians if it sees progress on the security of Indian diplomats in Canada.
Relations between India and Canada came under severe pressure after Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau made allegations last month about “potential” involvement of Indian agents in the killing of Khalistani separatist Hardeep Singh Nijjar in June.
Days after Justin Trudeau’s allegations, India announced it would temporarily suspend issuing visas to Canadian citizens and called on Ottawa to reduce its diplomatic presence in the country.
“If we see progress in the security of our diplomats in Canada, we would like to resume issuing visas there,” S Jaishankar said at an event while responding to a question on India-Canada relations.
On reducing Canada’s diplomatic presence in India, he said diplomatic parity was largely provided for in the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations.
“Parity is largely provided for in the Vienna Convention, the relevant international rule in this regard. In our case, we invoked parity because we were concerned about Canadian personnel constantly interfering in our affairs,” said Mr. Jaishankar.
Canada has already withdrawn 41 of its diplomats from India.
When Canadian Foreign Minister Melanie Joly announced the return of the diplomats from India on Thursday, she described New Delhi’s actions as “contrary to international law” and a violation of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations. India has already rejected the accusation.
S. Jaishankar said India-Canada relations are currently in a difficult phase, adding that India has problems with certain areas of Canadian policy.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)