In Ottawa, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau expressed his concerns on a Friday, highlighting the challenges imposed by the Indian government's actions on Canadian diplomats, affecting the lives of millions of people in both nations.
This statement came in the wake of Canada's announcement that it had recalled 41 diplomats in response to India's unilateral threat to revoke their diplomatic status. The root of this diplomatic dispute lay in Trudeau's previous assertion that Indian agents might have played a role in the June assassination of a Sikh separatist leader in Canada, an accusation that India vehemently denied.
Trudeau emphasized the significant disruption caused by the Indian government's actions, stating, “The Indian government is making it unbelievably difficult for life as usual to continue for millions of people in India and in Canada. And they’re doing it by contravening a very basic principle of diplomacy.”
He further expressed his apprehension for the well-being and happiness of millions of Canadians with Indian subcontinent origins during a televised press conference in Brampton, Ontario. Trudeau underlined that the expulsion of Canadian diplomats would adversely impact travel, trade, and Indian students studying in Canada.