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The
announcements affecting consulates in Bengaluru, Chandigarh and
Mumbai came hours after Foreign Minister Melanie Joly said
Canada has withdrawn 41 diplomats from India.
Despite the dispute, two senior Indian government sources told
Reuters the uproar would not spill into a trade dispute or
impact investment, with imports from Canada continuing to flow.
Bilateral trade touched $8 billion in 2022.
India last month asked Ottawa to reduce its diplomatic presence
after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau cited what he said was
credible evidence of a potential link between Indian agents and
the murder of Hardeep Singh Nijjar.
India denies any connection to the shooting outside a Sikh
temple in June.
"The Consulates General of Canada in Bengaluru, Chandigarh and
Mumbai are temporarily suspending in-person operations," said a
statement from the Canadian High Commission, or embassy, in New
Delhi, adding that services remain normal in the capital.
'STRONG CONNECTION'
Canada's Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC)
department said it was reducing employee numbers in India to
five from 27, with visa processing times likely to be impacted
even though the majority were handled abroad.
"Canada has a strong connection with Indian citizens, and will
continue to welcome them, whether they wish to come here to
visit, work, study, be reunited with loved ones, or live
permanently in the country," it added.
Around 2 million Canadians, some 5% of the overall population,
have Indian heritage. India is also Canada's largest source of
foreign students, roughly 40%.
India has dismissed as absurd Trudeau's suspicions that its
agents were linked to the murder of Nijjar, 45, a Canadian
citizen whom New Delhi had labelled a terrorist.
The Indian foreign ministry defended its downsizing of Canada's
diplomatic presence and rejected Joly's statement that it
violated the Vienna convention on diplomatic relations.
"The state of our bilateral relations, the much higher number of
Canadian diplomats in India, and their continued interference in
our internal affairs warrant a parity in mutual diplomatic
presence in New Delhi and Ottawa," it said.
(Reporting by YP Rajesh; Additional reporting by Neha Arora and
Nikunj Ohri;Editing by Andrew Cawthorne)
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