India asks Canada to withdraw over 3 dozen diplomats in response to Justin Trudeau's allegations

In accordance with the principle of parity in strength and rank equivalence that India has chosen to implement in response to Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's allegation that an Indian government hand in the murder of Khalistani separatist Hardeep Singh Nijjar, Canada has been asked to withdraw over three dozen of its diplomats from missions across the country.

The external affairs ministry noted that India had "informed the Canadian government that there should be parity in strength and rank equivalence in our diplomatic presence, in mutual diplomatic presence" last month, two days after Trudeau's disclosure, highlighting the fact that their numbers here are significantly higher than India's in Canada.

Arindam Bagchi, a spokesman for the external affairs ministry, had previously stated that "the specifics of this are being worked out, but I assume there will be a reduction from the Canadian side." According to a report that published in the Financial Times in London on Tuesday morning, India has instructed Canada to remove roughly 40 of its diplomats by October 10.

According to sources, this was not a brand-new directive but rather a step in the procedure that had been started shortly after Trudeau accused India on September 18. The FT story stated that "one person claimed India had threatened to revoke the diplomatic immunity of diplomats who remain after that date."

Regarding this report, the ministry made no formal statement.